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I don’t think it’s about worshipping rich people as it is about worshipping success. The money is just a result of being successful. They are willing to look pa

I don’t think it’s about worshipping rich people as it is about worshipping success. The money is just a result of being successful. They are willing to look past the survivorship bias because let’s face it working for someone else always feels second class to doing something “on your own” (air quotes btw). People look to the survivors and see that it paid off in the end. They don’t need to bow down to no one and they’re able to exit the hamster wheel. Case in point I know of someone who sold their small company for like 20 million dollars. Peanuts compared to billion dollar exits but gargantuan for most regular people. This dude was apparently some regular dude who sold the company in his 40s and he basically quit and focuses full time on his family. No longer needs to work 40 plus hours a week nor play office politics. He’s set and so is his family.

ip26 4y ago
In support of your point, the worship is mostly directed at people who made money themselves. Maybe a small inheritance helped bootstrap them, but they have clearly accomplished something. By contrast, can you even name the heirs of the Rockefeller fortune?
cratermoon 4y ago
> worshipping success... The money is just a result of being successful. Except this still defines 'success' as "making a lot of money". If making money is a result of being successful, then if someone doesn't make a lot of money, can they be considered successful, and how? I challenge you to name three contemporary people worshipped as successful but aren't considered successful in terms of their net worth. Side note: A $20 million payoff is still rich and absolutely out of reach for most. A person working full-time at $15/hr could work for 600 years and still be $2 million short of $20 million.
- moomoo11 4y ago
  of course I can. There are way too many researchers and scientists to list who I consider successful who aren’t multi millionaires. They are successful in a different context. The discussion was about worshipping startup founders and success was in that context. My point is that people like us (tech workers, assuming u might be one too) look up more to escaping the hamster wheel of promotion driven development and other bullshit in favor of just living life. Startups are a capitalist game. You don’t need to play it, you’re free to do something else.
  - cratermoon 4y ago
    > I consider successful I specifically said "worshipped as successful" to require not just personal opinion. I mean worshipped in the same way as Jobs, Gates, Musk, Bezos, or even entertainers like Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Lady Gaga, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and so on, are worshipped.
    - moomoo11 4y ago
      Isn’t that subjective too? I don’t worship Bezos but I like Bill Gates and Elon. Like I said you’re comparing apples to oranges there’s no comparison between Elon and Oprah and Lady Gaga besides “they have a lot of followers and money”. How they did it is different and only Elon would be in the startup context. I mean Steven Hawking, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Higgs, Tim Berners Lee, etc are all “worshipped as successful” by many people since they’re popular and well known. In my circle of casual science fans (we aren't scientists) we worship these people because we like science. Success leads to money. Unless you’re in a commie country where it might lead to gulag lol.
      - cratermoon 4y ago
        > Success leads to money. Unless you’re in a commie country where it might lead to gulag lol. Thank you for your analysis. It is both penetrating and diffuse.
        moomoo11 4y ago
        Am I wrong?
        cratermoon 4y ago
        If someone doesn't make money, they aren't successful? That's how I read it. Which leaves open the question, are there three people who didn't make money yet who are broadly considered successful enough to attract worshippers from among the general population? If so, what makes them successful, if not net worth?
rchaud 4y ago
> I don’t think it’s about worshipping rich people as it is about worshipping success. That's an issue too, because "success" increasingly looks dependent on timing more than anything else. Your company could be a money-burning endeavour and you could still come out rich if you impress the right VCs and time your IPO. Jack Dorsey and Evan Spiegel are billionaires, yet their companies lose hundreds of millions pretty much every single year. Same for Shopify, Uber and many other "unicorns".
the_only_law 4y ago
> Case in point I know of someone who sold their small company for like 20 million dollars. Peanuts compared to billion dollar exits but gargantuan for most regular people. This dude was apparently some regular dude who sold the company in his 40s and he basically quit and focuses full time on his family. No longer needs to work 40 plus hours a week nor play office politics. He’s set and so is his family. Good for him, but he’s still no god. I’m not worshiping any man.
- moomoo11 4y ago
  Success is what you should try to emulate. Imo. What that means is unique to each of us b

ip26 4y ago

In support of your point, the worship is mostly directed at people who made money themselves. Maybe a small inheritance helped bootstrap them, but they have clearly accomplished something. By contrast, can you even name the heirs of the Rockefeller fortune?

cratermoon 4y ago

> worshipping success... The money is just a result of being successful. Except this still defines 'success' as "making a lot of money". If making money is a result of being successful, then if someone doesn't make a lot of money, can they be considered successful, and how? I challenge you to name three contemporary people worshipped as successful but aren't considered successful in terms of their net worth. Side note: A $20 million payoff is still rich and absolutely out of reach for most. A person working full-time at $15/hr could work for 600 years and still be $2 million short of $20 million.

moomoo11 4y ago
of course I can. There are way too many researchers and scientists to list who I consider successful who aren’t multi millionaires. They are successful in a different context. The discussion was about worshipping startup founders and success was in that context. My point is that people like us (tech workers, assuming u might be one too) look up more to escaping the hamster wheel of promotion driven development and other bullshit in favor of just living life. Startups are a capitalist game. You don’t need to play it, you’re free to do something else.
- cratermoon 4y ago
  > I consider successful I specifically said "worshipped as successful" to require not just personal opinion. I mean worshipped in the same way as Jobs, Gates, Musk, Bezos, or even entertainers like Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Lady Gaga, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, and so on, are worshipped.
  - moomoo11 4y ago
    Isn’t that subjective too? I don’t worship Bezos but I like Bill Gates and Elon. Like I said you’re comparing apples to oranges there’s no comparison between Elon and Oprah and Lady Gaga besides “they have a lot of followers and money”. How they did it is different and only Elon would be in the startup context. I mean Steven Hawking, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Higgs, Tim Berners Lee, etc are all “worshipped as successful” by many people since they’re popular and well known. In my circle of casual science fans (we aren't scientists) we worship these people because we like science. Success leads to money. Unless you’re in a commie country where it might lead to gulag lol.
    - cratermoon 4y ago
      > Success leads to money. Unless you’re in a commie country where it might lead to gulag lol. Thank you for your analysis. It is both penetrating and diffuse.
      - moomoo11 4y ago
        Am I wrong?
        cratermoon 4y ago
        If someone doesn't make money, they aren't successful? That's how I read it. Which leaves open the question, are there three people who didn't make money yet who are broadly considered successful enough to attract worshippers from among the general population? If so, what makes them successful, if not net worth?

rchaud 4y ago

> I don’t think it’s about worshipping rich people as it is about worshipping success. That's an issue too, because "success" increasingly looks dependent on timing more than anything else. Your company could be a money-burning endeavour and you could still come out rich if you impress the right VCs and time your IPO. Jack Dorsey and Evan Spiegel are billionaires, yet their companies lose hundreds of millions pretty much every single year. Same for Shopify, Uber and many other "unicorns".

the_only_law 4y ago

> Case in point I know of someone who sold their small company for like 20 million dollars. Peanuts compared to billion dollar exits but gargantuan for most regular people. This dude was apparently some regular dude who sold the company in his 40s and he basically quit and focuses full time on his family. No longer needs to work 40 plus hours a week nor play office politics. He’s set and so is his family. Good for him, but he’s still no god. I’m not worshiping any man.

moomoo11 4y ago
Success is what you should try to emulate. Imo. What that means is unique to each of us b