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Mark's dad who had offered him to give him a million dollar McDonald's franchise, this gives massive cushion to follow your dreams more aggressively. Not saying

Mark's dad who had offered him to give him a million dollar McDonald's franchise, this gives massive cushion to follow your dreams more aggressively. Not saying he was a unmotivated bum. But there are many motivated individuals for risk calculus doesn't allow them to focus on side projects instead of academics to get a degree

credit_guy 4y ago
Your argument is flawed, and you need to take a moment to appreciate this. Lots of people can't afford to play the startup game. I was one, you were probably one. But those who can, once they enter the game, it's a type of "Hunger Games". It's very psychologically taxing. It's definitely not "throwing darts". The super-successful CEO of Zappos very likely committed suicide [1]. The supper-successful author of the "Four hour work week", Timothy Ferris, almost did the same [2]. Very few people just "throw the dart", miss, and throw again. The idea that success is all luck is very disrespectful. I personally did not venture and did not gain. But I don't go around happy go lucky telling everyone that I could be just as good as Musk or Bezos or Zuckerberg, but I just did not have the right parents. There are results, and there are excuses. I don't have the results to show, I'm not going to show excuses. Or rather, I have results commensurate with my efforts and my risk appetite. I'm not Zuckerberg or Musk, I'm not even Paul Graham, but I'm not destitute either. Lots of middle class Americans are just like me. They have put a lot of hard work to get where they are, and they are happy with what they have accomplished in life; they would have liked to have achieved more, and hope to achieve more between now and the moment they retire. The problem with the darts argument is that it negates all they (and I) did in life. That argument is not just about Musk and Zuckerberg, is about all hard working middle class people in America. "Yes, you got where you are, but you were just throwing darts. I would have gotten there just as easily as you, but I had to wash dirty dishes behind the counter". Well no, I was one of the guys washing dishes too. I'm not a trust fund baby. I come from a middle class family who helped me as much as they could, but just in terms of general parental support, not in terms of money. The darts argument is not just nullifying what Musk and Zuck did. It's nullifying what I did in my life, and what other people like me did. That's why I find it toxic. That's why lots of people like me find it toxic. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hsieh#Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hsieh#Death [2] https://tim.blog/2015/05/06/how-to-commit-suicide/ https://tim.blog/2015/05/06/how-to-commit-suicide/

credit_guy 4y ago

Your argument is flawed, and you need to take a moment to appreciate this. Lots of people can't afford to play the startup game. I was one, you were probably one. But those who can, once they enter the game, it's a type of "Hunger Games". It's very psychologically taxing. It's definitely not "throwing darts". The super-successful CEO of Zappos very likely committed suicide [1]. The supper-successful author of the "Four hour work week", Timothy Ferris, almost did the same [2]. Very few people just "throw the dart", miss, and throw again. The idea that success is all luck is very disrespectful. I personally did not venture and did not gain. But I don't go around happy go lucky telling everyone that I could be just as good as Musk or Bezos or Zuckerberg, but I just did not have the right parents. There are results, and there are excuses. I don't have the results to show, I'm not going to show excuses. Or rather, I have results commensurate with my efforts and my risk appetite. I'm not Zuckerberg or Musk, I'm not even Paul Graham, but I'm not destitute either. Lots of middle class Americans are just like me. They have put a lot of hard work to get where they are, and they are happy with what they have accomplished in life; they would have liked to have achieved more, and hope to achieve more between now and the moment they retire. The problem with the darts argument is that it negates all they (and I) did in life. That argument is not just about Musk and Zuckerberg, is about all hard working middle class people in America. "Yes, you got where you are, but you were just throwing darts. I would have gotten there just as easily as you, but I had to wash dirty dishes behind the counter". Well no, I was one of the guys washing dishes too. I'm not a trust fund baby. I come from a middle class family who helped me as much as they could, but just in terms of general parental support, not in terms of money. The darts argument is not just nullifying what Musk and Zuck did. It's nullifying what I did in my life, and what other people like me did. That's why I find it toxic. That's why lots of people like me find it toxic. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hsieh#Death https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Hsieh#Death [2] https://tim.blog/2015/05/06/how-to-commit-suicide/ https://tim.blog/2015/05/06/how-to-commit-suicide/