[TeMPOraL]

He could've learned it reading Less Wrong too :).

That said, I think the relationship network is a huge advantage too. Reminds me of a story about, if memory serves me well, an economic university student, who was bad at learning but good at throwing parties (with lots of vodka). It was in Poland around the fall of the Soviet Union. The guy apparently got very successful because through his parties, he befriended a lot of people people who later graduated and became directors of private and national enterprises.