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Wow, this guy is amazing. Read his wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collison http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collison

by ronnier 14y ago

DigitalSea 14y ago
He's also a pilot and pianist and he's only 22. I'm now asking myself where did my life going wrong?
- clicks 14y ago
  He also got his company sold to eBay at the age of 17 for $5 million. Our Dani Fong here has a similar story -- dropped out of Princeton at the age of 17... where she was doing her doctorate. I think the parents of these two need to come out and explain to us what exactly their parenting methods are.
  - madaxe 14y ago
    If there's one thing I've seen in common among entrepreneurs who've been successful and started young, it's an absence of parenting, or at least very hands-off parenting. Having mom or dad to go running to trains you to spend your entire life hiding under the wing of "mom" or "dad". Having parents who go "So?" when you go "Timmy hit me at school" teaches you to sort out your own problems and find your own solutions. The vast majority of people I know who've made it/are making it (the one's who're actually profitable, or have product(s) attracting investment) have either no, or highly dysfunctional, relationships with their parents.
  - whitewhim 14y ago
    Oh wow I'd never realized that she was from my home town. She's done some pretty spectacular things.
  - mahyarm 14y ago
    Dani Fong was allowed to stop going to normal school at around age 12, because she hated it to the bone and her parents listened. After that she went on to an alternative track that involved programming, horse back riding and community college and shortly after, a physics undergrad that took 5 years. That's what I gathered from her history. I know of a bunch of people that could of been like that, but stuck to normal school and the pace that it sets with it's busy work and so on limited their potential. I think there is a lot of kids where you could just 'skip the bullshit' and put them in some sort of college degree but instead they flounder in a school system where they don't fit in and is not suited for them. She started her own company because similarly, she really doesn't like being an employee. http://daniellefong.com/about-the-author/ http://daniellefong.com/about-the-author/
    - DaniFong 14y ago
      'Skipping the bullshit' is in fact the lesson I'd like people to draw on. And it doesn't end with school. Too many people are stuck in jobs and relationships and situations they don't enjoy. Get unstuck. Although, I will annotate to your analysis -- the reason I started this particular company was that I wanted to make a difference. The reason I had to start some company was because I am rather insubordinate, and lack consistency of attendance and effort on things that I am less than passionately attached to.
  - Jach 14y ago
    Be careful of generalizing parenting methods, also don't put too much weight on parenting when there's at least as much (though probably more) due to genetics. (There's also a nice low-hanging fruit plucked by making sure the child has enough iodine in the womb/early infancy[1].) With parenting tricks, what seems to "work" remarkably well for one child might not work at all for another child, even in the same family! I'm not a parent so I observe this lack of generalized techniques from multi-sibling families with very different sibling life outcomes and also from Feynman's anecdote on his son and his daughter. Here's him telling it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzg1CU8t9nw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzg1CU8t9nw (at the 49 minute mark). [1] http://www.gwern.net/Nootropics#iodine http://www.gwern.net/Nootropics#iodine
- skeletonjelly 14y ago
  I was thinking this before I read your comment.
- subsystem 14y ago
  Not to take anything away from him, but I think his other achievements are far more impressive. Learning to fly or play the piano generally "just" takes time and money. The really hard things are those where you can apply yourself fully and still fail.
  - raverbashing 14y ago
    Yes His father may be a businessman (yes, I read the part where he says he's an electrical engineer), I'm not sure. Based on what things cost in Ireland today and the salary one can make, it does not look good. And any salary considered 'high' pays 41% in taxes (where high is > $41k per year)
    - j_col 14y ago
      > And any salary considered 'high' pays 41% in taxes (where high is > $41k per year) That's incorrect. You don't pay the high rate of income tax on all of your income, but only on income over a certain threshold depending on your circumstances. Actually we have pretty low income tax rates when compared to other EU countries: http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it1.html#section3 http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it1.html#section3
      - raverbashing 14y ago
        I know that (and this often confuses people), I didn't want to add all the explanation there. But yes, you'll pay 41% on what goes over a certain limit (that is, above $41k annually or 32.8KEUR). About your second statement, not really: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe
        rmc 14y ago
        Comparing taxes is hard. There are various other 'hidden' taxes that Ireland doesn't have. e.g. no 'council tax' or property tax (though they are bringing one in, most likely just for people who own, not rent), there are no water charges (yet), etc. All of this can mean that someone can have more in their pocket at the end of the month in Ireland. It all depends.
thewarrior 14y ago
I was born the same year as this guy . How do I reconcile myself to the fact that I may never achieve so much even in my entire life ? Is it a matter of lowering ones expectations ? If this is the kind of brilliance it takes to succeed in the start up world I'm quite discouraged.
- danieldk 14y ago
  How do I reconcile myself to the fact that I may never achieve so much even in my entire life ? Is it a matter of lowering ones expectations ? Just let go. If there is success, there is success. If there is no success, there is no success. If you reach a decent standard of living, there will be plenty to enjoy. Do not forget to do so.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- jacquesm 14y ago
  No, that kind of brilliance is not what it takes to succeed. It doesn't hurt either, but the biggest factor is perseverance. If you get discouraged because someone younger than you can succeed when you can't then that perseverance element is exactly what you have to work on. For every Patrick and every John there are 10's of thousands of people that succeed. And almost all of them are not nearly as brilliant or as young. Imagine a world without them. In that world you would be closer to the top. But your chances of success would not be diminished, nor would they be decreased. Now repeat that process for all those that are smarter, richer and more dedicated than you. At some point you'll be the one at the top. What would you blame it on if you then still did not succeed? In the end, all that matters is when and how you decide to make a go of it, how much you apply yourself, how well you'll deal with the unavoidable hardships and how much luck you will have and how the timing will favor you. It doesn't really matter how much higher than 120 your IQ is, plenty of people with less than that have succeeded at a level that even Patrick or John will never exceed simply by being in the right place at the right time and making use of every opportunity that life threw at them. If you want to measure yourself do it with people that started off with less than you had and that still made it. Then figure out what they did right that you're doing wrong and go for it.

Wow, this guy is amazing. Read his wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collison http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collison

by ronnier 14y ago

Wow, this guy is amazing. Read his wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collison http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Collison

DigitalSea 14y ago

He's also a pilot and pianist and he's only 22. I'm now asking myself where did my life going wrong?

clicks 14y ago
He also got his company sold to eBay at the age of 17 for $5 million. Our Dani Fong here has a similar story -- dropped out of Princeton at the age of 17... where she was doing her doctorate. I think the parents of these two need to come out and explain to us what exactly their parenting methods are.
- madaxe 14y ago
  If there's one thing I've seen in common among entrepreneurs who've been successful and started young, it's an absence of parenting, or at least very hands-off parenting. Having mom or dad to go running to trains you to spend your entire life hiding under the wing of "mom" or "dad". Having parents who go "So?" when you go "Timmy hit me at school" teaches you to sort out your own problems and find your own solutions. The vast majority of people I know who've made it/are making it (the one's who're actually profitable, or have product(s) attracting investment) have either no, or highly dysfunctional, relationships with their parents.
- whitewhim 14y ago
  Oh wow I'd never realized that she was from my home town. She's done some pretty spectacular things.
- mahyarm 14y ago
  Dani Fong was allowed to stop going to normal school at around age 12, because she hated it to the bone and her parents listened. After that she went on to an alternative track that involved programming, horse back riding and community college and shortly after, a physics undergrad that took 5 years. That's what I gathered from her history. I know of a bunch of people that could of been like that, but stuck to normal school and the pace that it sets with it's busy work and so on limited their potential. I think there is a lot of kids where you could just 'skip the bullshit' and put them in some sort of college degree but instead they flounder in a school system where they don't fit in and is not suited for them. She started her own company because similarly, she really doesn't like being an employee. http://daniellefong.com/about-the-author/ http://daniellefong.com/about-the-author/
  - DaniFong 14y ago
    'Skipping the bullshit' is in fact the lesson I'd like people to draw on. And it doesn't end with school. Too many people are stuck in jobs and relationships and situations they don't enjoy. Get unstuck. Although, I will annotate to your analysis -- the reason I started this particular company was that I wanted to make a difference. The reason I had to start some company was because I am rather insubordinate, and lack consistency of attendance and effort on things that I am less than passionately attached to.
- Jach 14y ago
  Be careful of generalizing parenting methods, also don't put too much weight on parenting when there's at least as much (though probably more) due to genetics. (There's also a nice low-hanging fruit plucked by making sure the child has enough iodine in the womb/early infancy[1].) With parenting tricks, what seems to "work" remarkably well for one child might not work at all for another child, even in the same family! I'm not a parent so I observe this lack of generalized techniques from multi-sibling families with very different sibling life outcomes and also from Feynman's anecdote on his son and his daughter. Here's him telling it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzg1CU8t9nw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzg1CU8t9nw (at the 49 minute mark). [1] http://www.gwern.net/Nootropics#iodine http://www.gwern.net/Nootropics#iodine
skeletonjelly 14y ago
I was thinking this before I read your comment.
subsystem 14y ago
Not to take anything away from him, but I think his other achievements are far more impressive. Learning to fly or play the piano generally "just" takes time and money. The really hard things are those where you can apply yourself fully and still fail.
- raverbashing 14y ago
  Yes His father may be a businessman (yes, I read the part where he says he's an electrical engineer), I'm not sure. Based on what things cost in Ireland today and the salary one can make, it does not look good. And any salary considered 'high' pays 41% in taxes (where high is > $41k per year)
  - j_col 14y ago
    > And any salary considered 'high' pays 41% in taxes (where high is > $41k per year) That's incorrect. You don't pay the high rate of income tax on all of your income, but only on income over a certain threshold depending on your circumstances. Actually we have pretty low income tax rates when compared to other EU countries: http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it1.html#section3 http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/it1.html#section3
    - raverbashing 14y ago
      I know that (and this often confuses people), I didn't want to add all the explanation there. But yes, you'll pay 41% on what goes over a certain limit (that is, above $41k annually or 32.8KEUR). About your second statement, not really: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_of_Europe
      - rmc 14y ago
        Comparing taxes is hard. There are various other 'hidden' taxes that Ireland doesn't have. e.g. no 'council tax' or property tax (though they are bringing one in, most likely just for people who own, not rent), there are no water charges (yet), etc. All of this can mean that someone can have more in their pocket at the end of the month in Ireland. It all depends.

thewarrior 14y ago

I was born the same year as this guy . How do I reconcile myself to the fact that I may never achieve so much even in my entire life ? Is it a matter of lowering ones expectations ? If this is the kind of brilliance it takes to succeed in the start up world I'm quite discouraged.

danieldk 14y ago
How do I reconcile myself to the fact that I may never achieve so much even in my entire life ? Is it a matter of lowering ones expectations ? Just let go. If there is success, there is success. If there is no success, there is no success. If you reach a decent standard of living, there will be plenty to enjoy. Do not forget to do so.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
jacquesm 14y ago
No, that kind of brilliance is not what it takes to succeed. It doesn't hurt either, but the biggest factor is perseverance. If you get discouraged because someone younger than you can succeed when you can't then that perseverance element is exactly what you have to work on. For every Patrick and every John there are 10's of thousands of people that succeed. And almost all of them are not nearly as brilliant or as young. Imagine a world without them. In that world you would be closer to the top. But your chances of success would not be diminished, nor would they be decreased. Now repeat that process for all those that are smarter, richer and more dedicated than you. At some point you'll be the one at the top. What would you blame it on if you then still did not succeed? In the end, all that matters is when and how you decide to make a go of it, how much you apply yourself, how well you'll deal with the unavoidable hardships and how much luck you will have and how the timing will favor you. It doesn't really matter how much higher than 120 your IQ is, plenty of people with less than that have succeeded at a level that even Patrick or John will never exceed simply by being in the right place at the right time and making use of every opportunity that life threw at them. If you want to measure yourself do it with people that started off with less than you had and that still made it. Then figure out what they did right that you're doing wrong and go for it.