Two reasons why the most successful people are often very nice

It's been about a year since I've been in business and because I'm building my company in Japan, I've had to pay particularly close attention to the intricacies of building relationships. As I've had the opportunity to come into contact with many amazing people, one thing has struck me about the most successful among the people I have met. The most successful and well-connected people I have met over the last year are, more often than not, the most humble and accessible people I've met. I think this is because of two reasons: The first is that you never really know who someone is based on simple first impressions. And, perhaps more importantly, you never know who someone will become. So, aside from the natural human decency that should accompany all of our relationships, it's just smart from a business perspective to treat everyone with respect and not write off those who don't necessarily make a strong impression in person. I've met quite a few people here personally responsible for earning tens or hundreds of millions of dollars and it's not rare for these people to be decidedly non-flashy and almost a little awkward. It would, of course, be a mistake to misjudge these individuals merely on the basis of the first impression they make because they are truly heavy hitters. The other reason is one that is probably more common and it's simply part of the natural humility that comes from building up a business out of nothing. Many of the successful people I know come from modest, decidedly non-elite backgrounds and this gives them the right combination of empathy and ambition that enables them to succeed. Just wanted to share that here in the hopes that it will be useful to the other startup founders here.