

Why I Became an Entrepreneur (the Long Story) - MediaSquirrel
http://www.metamorphblog.com/2010/08/why-i-became-an-entrepreneur-the-long-story.html

======
unsignedlong
_I had never before felt bounded by social class, by economics, by mother
fucking money.

I remember when it hit home: I was taking a graduate seminar on Afghan
Politics. After class one day, I struck up conversation with a girl sitting
next to me. She asked about my background. “I used to fight forest fires,” I
explained, thinking I was so cool.

Her forehead crinkled. She stopped for a second, then responded: “Oh. I didn’t
know they let people like that, you know, in here.”_

Wonderful. And Columbia has a $6 billion endowment[1] on which they pay
absolutely NO TAX. They also recently used eminent domain to seize a portion
of Harlem.[2] Columbia, Harvard, and every other elitist, non-profit-for-tax-
purposes-only private university should have its tax exempt status revoked.

1) [http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-
colleges/...](http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/new-
york-ny/columbia-university-2707)

2) <http://news.google.com/news/search?q=columbia+eminent+domain>

~~~
siculars
I actually work for Columbia and my brother graduated from their engineering
school, SEAS. Now I think it's called Fu, no joke. Yes Columbia is elitist,
like the other Ivys, but they do let a number of poor people in (like my
brother) and give them just enough money to make it affordable with loans.
Could they do better, ya I think so. But eh, what are you gonna do about it?
In reality, if you are willing to become indebted to student loans and have
decent grades/test scores you can get into a number of elitist institutions of
higher education that will give you some sort of hardship discount.

In regards to your second point, I also happen to live just a few blocks from
where that whole eminent domain thing took place. Believe me, it's quite
blighted but has been on the up and up in the last 5 years or so. The handful
of people who held out were operating storage facilities, gas stations and
mechanics shops. One of the property owners is himself a developer developing
property in Westchester. Every single one of them were offered a considerable
amount of money to relocate. I've seen the plans, I've been to the meetings.
Columbia will bring a ton of jobs and money to the neighborhood many, many
times more than the current state of affairs. Not only that but I believe they
will also be opening a grade school of some sort open to children from the
area. Oh, the campus will also be focused on science and technology. You know,
things that have a better ROI for society than storage bins.

~~~
anamax
> One of the property owners is himself a developer developing property in
> Westchester.

So? (Even if his projects also involve eminent domain that wouldn't make
Columbia's actions acceptable.)

I realize that you'd like an argument, but this really is indefensible.

> Every single one of them were offered a considerable amount of money to
> relocate.

And yet, they refused. So Columbia is resorting to thuggery.

> Columbia will bring a ton of jobs and money to the neighborhood many, many
> times more than the current state of affairs.

In other words, Columbia could pay more.

> Oh, the campus will also be focused on science and technology. You know,
> things that have a better ROI for society than storage bins.

There are lots of places where they could build. And no, Columbia's
convenience really doesn't matter.

There's always a good excuse to hose someone.

~~~
cynicalkane
I don't know the specifics of the case in question, but in general it should
be considered legal and ethical to repurpose blighted property, whereas you
seem to think it isn't. Well, it's been a fact of American law for a long,
long time.

If an owner allows valuable property to fall into blight, he is not fulfilling
his very minimal civic duties as a property owner.

~~~
anamax
> I don't know the specifics of the case in question, but in general it should
> be considered legal and ethical to repurpose blighted property, whereas you
> seem to think it isn't.

You're assuming that blight means "poor condition" or somesuch. The problem is
that the operating definition is "property owned by the politically weak that
is desired by the politically strong". That's how blight condemnations
actually work.

Note that the person trying to defend Columbia says that the property was in
poor shape but the current owners have fixed that. His argument is that
they're engaged in the "wrong" sorts of biz, not that it's actually in
disrepair.

Their reward for fixing actual blight is to have their property taken away....

> Well, it's been a fact of American law for a long, long time.

Since when does that make it good?

------
hristov
I studied at Columbia and I have to say his tales of class snobbery are a bit
over the top. Me and a lot of my friends were poor and did not feel ostracized
about it.

And although there were some rich kids and Saudi heiresses in class, the
displays of wealth were more likely to be subject of jokes than the other way
around. I remember people made fun of one girl because she took a cab to
school every day (we would usually walk to school or use the subway).

In general the students in my class considered themselves progressive and
enlightened so any snobbery towards poor people was very unlikely to be
popular.

I think the writer had some bad luck in that he joined a program witch was
considered to be a cash cow for the university so he ended up with a lot of
rich kids. Although now that I think of it, my program was also to be
considered a bit of a cash cow.

If there is anything wrong with the way the school treated him, it is the fact
that no-one pulled him aside to tell him something like "hey kid, this program
is for rich kids and financial aid will be harder to come by, so try to find
something else."

------
unohoo
The line that seemed most weird:

>> In 2007, I acquired a girlfriend

~~~
trafficlight
And in 2008 he disregarded females and acquired currency.

I believe that's how the meme goes.

------
araneae
This is the most incredibly self-indulgent piece I've read all month.

~~~
tommynazareth
I hate to judge a book by its cover, but I could've told you that just by
looking at his haircut.

~~~
rradu
His response to his haircut: [http://www.metamorphblog.com/2010/06/my-mohawk-
and-being-the...](http://www.metamorphblog.com/2010/06/my-mohawk-and-being-
the-speakertext-ceo.html)

"Simply, I decided that I was going to be a high-profile person and create a
high-profile company with a very strong and meaningful brand.The mohawk, the
blog, the plentiful f-bombs, etc. are all just a part of who I am as a person,
but I also choose to accentuate that part of my personality for strategic
reasons."

~~~
tommynazareth
Yah, what kind of decision is it to become a 'high-profile person'?

------
maxklein
As impressive as the story is - it sounds very typically American. A boring
American has the normal story you know. An interesting American has this story
or some variation of it - maybe immigrant parents, maybe poor childhood, maybe
doing something social, maybe struggling to get into college, maybe rich
friends one is jealous of. Lots of American movies I'm watched have this
story.

Everyones story has a narrative that is a lot more interesting, but all the
magazine reading and the movie watching you do forces your narrative into a
typical down-up-down-up scheme, because it seems like that's the right story
to tell.

There is that story of those African boys who ran across the savannah and some
of their friends were eaten by lions. that is a non-traditional and
interesting narrative. Being top in Columbia is just about standard for an
american narrative.

I'm not hating on the story - but I just think that it's not that different
from many stories I've read.

~~~
muhfuhkuh
>I'm not hating on the story

I think it's not the flow of the narrative as much as it is the "drama for the
sake of it." I mean, the way it reads, Matt seems like the guy who came up
from nothing, on food stamps and government cheese. Not some son of a
professor.

I mean, I don't care where you come from, but most people mow their own lawns.
That ain't hardship, in my opinion. And, his stories of being dejected for
being not rich was kinda cloying, especially for someone who has done as his
dad has and clawed his way out from a lower-middle working class background in
a school where most people didn't mow their lawns because they didn't _have_
lawns.

That said, he did do forest fireman work. And, he was a Paramedic. That's
pretty cool. In other words, it's the choices he's made that's semi-
interesting, not that he was forced down those paths he chose. He has a
rebellious streak, and it's discordant with his abilities and drive for
achievement in school and entrepreneurship. And, I think the takeaway (at
least in his eyes) is he's not some stuff-shirt stiff when he easily could be
given his abilities and work ethic.

~~~
Volscio
That is a great point. Just reading how he framed his life story, he sounded
like a kid who was given so many opportunities to succeed and turned them down
because he was spoiled. But if you look at the actual things he's done not
through his words, he tried things that very few people would attempt.
Actions, not words?

------
dennykmiu
I have been an entrepreneur for over fifteen years, with one mild success and
a few spectacular failures. And I must say I enjoy this article more than the
rest of the articles combined in terms of explaining why entrepreneurs become
entrepreneurs. The reason has nothing to do with hardship, wealth or
upbringing. Anyone can become an entrepreneur. You must first possess a demon
deep inside that needs to get out. The author clearly has one and my own
experience is that entrepreneurship is his only cure. Good luck.

------
DanielN
don't give up on journalism, it's only dead to those who aren't great writers,
and this guy is a great writer.

------
markstansbury
Good read.

~~~
mvalle
Definitely, I like the way it is written. I don't know how to describe it, but
it feels like an entrepreneur wrote it. It has a feel to it.

------
rradu
Very impressive story. Would love to hear others' stories on why / how they
became entrepreneurs.

------
nl
I think Matt would have made an _fucking_ great investment banker. ;)

