
Advice from Harvard Business School's Class of 1963 - brianliou91
http://hbs1963.com/
======
GFischer
Most of the advice is good, but I disagree with some generalizations:

"My one big mistake in life has been providing a trust fund for my five
children. I’m very comfortable paying for an education for as long as they
want to study in a reputable university. However, providing additional funds
so they could have a lifestyle beyond what they have achieved on their own was
a mistake." \- DICK RESCH

I don't know how big that fund was, and it might have been a mistake in his
particular case - but I can tell you that the opposite (not providing any
financial help under the "you must get ahead on your own" mantra) creates a
lot of bitterness - missing U$ 10.000 for a down payment to buy a house (which
I wouldn't mind having loaned, not a giveaway) and having to keep on paying
rent and toiling at an awful company, while your parent inherits several
millions, hurts. So does not having the possibility of asking for seed money
for a startup, and having other people deny you by saying "your wealthy father
doesn't invest in you, so why would I?". (note: I'm 32, I know I should have
some money saved away by now, but I did make mistakes - actually I think I
prove my point, not giving money doesn't guarantee your children won't make
mistakes :P )

~~~
melling
Why would it create bitterness unless the child felt entitled, which is not a
good quality? The person was probably already dealt a better hand than most
people on the planet. I, like many people, had to borrow the money for my
college education. I managed to pay off my loans (public university) and buy
my apartment in my early 30's.

~~~
refurb
I have to agree with this. Life is a lot easier when you look at gifts as
truly gifts and not obligations. I received zero dollars from my parents (of
course I got a basic roof over my head) even though they were upper-middle
class. If I did get something I would have been grateful, rather than having a
"it's about time" attitude.

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normloman
Great advice.

"Recognize opportunities and see trends before everyone else"

Sounds easy enough.

"Choose work you enjoy"

No kidding!

"One mistake is to stick with a highly profitable business model too long when
the world is changing. Another is to abandon the old for the next new thing,
particularly if the path to profitability is not clear."

So change is good. Unless it's bad.

"Happiness is the best measure of success."

So my Reddit Karma is worthless?

"The greatest gift you can give your children is to love one another."

AWWWWWWWWWW <3

------
meisterbrendan
"Have fun. You'll be dead a long time." Love this.

~~~
maaku
I don't plan on it.

~~~
derleth
> I don't plan on it.

Think about it game-theoretically:

If you live as if you'll die, and you don't, you'll have a much more
interesting life, because you took advantage of it thinking you're living
under the Sword of Damocles.

If you live as if life extension will keep you going, and it fails, you'll
have a short, boring life, full of things you put off until it was too late.

Those are the extreme values of the matrix; if you work through the rest, I
think you'll find that the most utility is always gained by living as if
you'll die _eventually_.

(Living as if you'll die _tomorrow_ is romantic and all, but it would prevent
you from working towards any goal which takes more than less than a day to
complete. It could also land you in prison, deported to a less-pleasant
foreign country, or both.)

~~~
maaku
I reject the premise entirely. Death does not give life meaning. Life gives
life meaning.

Procrastination is a human error. You can choose to live each day to the
fullest without embracing deathism.

~~~
melling
I guess first we'd have to define "fullest." Your meaning and mine are
probably completely different. If all you want is to be in that happy place,
well, ... good luck. I bet Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and Bill Gates
have a different idea about what they want/wanted to accomplish with their
lives.

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brisance
Thank you for sharing this! I internalized some of these lessons from my own
life and it has made me feel a bit better about similar conclusions reached.

------
goshx
"Work hard. Be honest. Help others." \- PHILIP B. SMITH

------
fvrghl
I think Paul Rosenbaum's advice for careers is particularly relevant for
programmers:

"Keep re-inventing yourself through self-education, because industries change
quickly."

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thoughtexps
This might be interesting as well to those who admire this article:
[https://medium.com/p/1b1cde25627a](https://medium.com/p/1b1cde25627a)

~~~
vdaniuk
The quality of the linked article is very low.

Comparing Facebook and Apple to ponzi scheme? Check.

Comparing founders and VCs to blood-suckers? Check.

Comparing Facebook and Apple employees to slaves? Check.

Zero useful information, 100% linkbaiting by stirring controversy.

