
29-Year-Old Rejected by 35 Potential Employers. Now, Co-Founder of $1B Startup - ALee
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/274693
======
HoppedUpMenace
Would've made for a more interesting story if the guy hadn't come from money
and actually worked his way up from nothing.

~~~
kafkaesq
To be fair, it sounds like his family members were decidedly middle class
entrepreneurs. It doesn't sound at all like he "came from money."

And as for "interestingness":

 _“I wouldn’t be here without my brother or the other guys at Twitch. That’s
probably the most important thing,” he says. "Not just having an idea or
executing on an idea -- it’s all about the connections that you have and the
people you know and the people who support you.”_

I actually appreciate the fact that the article tells it like it is. We might
want to prefer to believe that if we just have the right idea, we can beat out
the people who went to the right schools, and/or had amazingly successful
family members -- without working 10x as hard. But in reality, it just isn't
so.

~~~
HoppedUpMenace
My point was that this is just another story about a guy from a wealthy family
who goes on to become very wealthy himself. Reminds me of the cliche where
someone who is definitely not poor goes to a prestigious university, has an
idea, creates a startup, drops out, becomes rich.

~~~
chatmasta
This path will always exist due to confirmation bias resulting from rational
decision making. Someone grows up wealthy, gets opportunities to go to a
prestigious university, and accepts it. Should they have said no to the
university? Of course not... so their _rational decision making_ advances them
one step further on the self-perpetuating path. Next, they're at university
and they meet some people who introduce them to venture capitalists. Should
they refuse the introduction, since not everyone gets to talk to venture
capitalists? Of course not... so they make a rational decision and take the
venture capital.

I agree with your sentiment that this is a common trope. I'm merely suggesting
that it is inevitable and self-perpetuating. As long as people make rational
decisions to accept the best opportunities offered to them, they will funnel
themselves into the "path of privilege," maybe without even realizing it.

Of course, it's questionable whether the best opportunities are the ones that
only come to you because of your status.... usually that means there is excess
supply of those opportunities and you are on the verge of entering a culling
machine. (See: recent increase in CS majors)

