The 90s were not tech hostile. That's a very strange take and yes I was there as well. And no, NYTimes was and is not representative of Western "Intelligentsia"

The 90s were not tech hostile. That's a very strange take and yes I was there as well. And no, NYTimes was and is not representative of Western "Intelligentsia" (God help us), much less the subset that was and remains quite keenly focused on technology. https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/cisco-buys-granite-systems/ https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/cisco-buys-granite-s... Do you really think people like Andy Bechtolsheim and David Cheriton give an F what NYTimes thinks of investing in technology, or that it was "moving against the grain" (???) for a Stanford CS professor to invest in his bright young things? However I agree with you regarding the "luck" business. I believe most, though not all, people who are seen as lucky (or even see themselves as lucky) are simply those that take advantage of opportunity. Many of us (raises hand) are either oblivious to opportunity or have mastered the art of squandering them. Then we complain about being unlucky or how others are "so lucky".