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Doesn't need to be a billionaire in USD, if he grinded he could have a penthouse in the Congo. Wealth is relative to your surroundings.

Nevermark 3y ago
Fine “being a billionaire”can be made relative. But that doesn’t eliminate great disparities within any context. One person will be miserably poor, neglected and abused by their parents, face social challenges due to appearance and speech issues, get cancer, then during remission be shot to death by a local criminal. Another person has a stable childhood in a supportive, healthy and ethical environment. Effortlessly accumulates useful friends and acquaintances in part due to family reputation, height, mesmerizing speech qualities and physical attractiveness. And happens to discover the useful and novel work they love and are meant to do while still in high school. And everything in between. Also, we all think differently in ways we can’t undo. I don’t mean facts or beliefs or learned skill. Nature and early childhood experiences, that none of us were in control of, wired each of us very differently. The kinds of things each of us can do well vary greatly in quantity, quality and variety, and in usefulness within our context. Two randomly selected people in any society are not going to have the same probability of success with the same amount of work. The variance is tremendous. Turning every problem into another version of “work harder”, “do what it takes, “learn what it takes”, might be a good attitude. It might be helpful. But it won’t eliminate the disparity in results regardless of commitment. Life is full of unfairness, accident, important epiphanies that come too late, etc. Stoicism and objectivity about that isn’t defeatism. The ways things happen in the exterior world, and our internal worlds, are inherently chaotic. Small seeming things can lead us to serendipity or ruin in ways we will never be aware of. We are more likely to create greater fairness and opportunity for ourselves and others by recognizing reality, and responding with a will to improve things despite the uncertain returns. Ironically, the very point of Y-Combinator is the recognition that context matters. A lot.

Nevermark 3y ago

Fine “being a billionaire”can be made relative. But that doesn’t eliminate great disparities within any context. One person will be miserably poor, neglected and abused by their parents, face social challenges due to appearance and speech issues, get cancer, then during remission be shot to death by a local criminal. Another person has a stable childhood in a supportive, healthy and ethical environment. Effortlessly accumulates useful friends and acquaintances in part due to family reputation, height, mesmerizing speech qualities and physical attractiveness. And happens to discover the useful and novel work they love and are meant to do while still in high school. And everything in between. Also, we all think differently in ways we can’t undo. I don’t mean facts or beliefs or learned skill. Nature and early childhood experiences, that none of us were in control of, wired each of us very differently. The kinds of things each of us can do well vary greatly in quantity, quality and variety, and in usefulness within our context. Two randomly selected people in any society are not going to have the same probability of success with the same amount of work. The variance is tremendous. Turning every problem into another version of “work harder”, “do what it takes, “learn what it takes”, might be a good attitude. It might be helpful. But it won’t eliminate the disparity in results regardless of commitment. Life is full of unfairness, accident, important epiphanies that come too late, etc. Stoicism and objectivity about that isn’t defeatism. The ways things happen in the exterior world, and our internal worlds, are inherently chaotic. Small seeming things can lead us to serendipity or ruin in ways we will never be aware of. We are more likely to create greater fairness and opportunity for ourselves and others by recognizing reality, and responding with a will to improve things despite the uncertain returns. Ironically, the very point of Y-Combinator is the recognition that context matters. A lot.