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by ryanmercer 2723 days ago
In regards to that article:

>If you’re so smart, why aren’t you rich? Turns out it’s just chance.

Someone in the industry, someone with considerable influence, someone active on this very forum, once told me when asked what their secret was "I worry it's been more luck than skill".

At the time my immediate thought was "bullshit, you had to have busted your ass but your background also had to have had great influence but hey fine, don't tell me". But as time has passed, much reflection, looking at their peers I now fully believe it. It was largely luck. While the individual had an interesting idea which started their journey towards success, they've had fortunate event/connection after fortunate event/connection that have allowed them to get where they are today. That has allowed them to be doing what they want to do, pursuing what they want to be pursuing, working towards a goal that they want more than anything else.

I'd say 10% idea, 20% work ethic, 70% luck.

Wish I had some luck (and maybe the ability to pass some hindsight of my personal life back to a much younger me so I'd have gotten a degree, avoided my personal bankruptcy and thus been in a much better position to actually get opportunities but alas).

2 comments

In a lot of cases I would say that working your ass off basically buys you the lottery ticket, but whether it pays off is largely luck. Innate talent and ability might skew the odds in your favor slightly, but I think it's more likely that they just lower the work-cost of the lottery ticket.
Exactly. You cannot make it without luck (you need to be in the right place at the right time), but you greatly improve your chances if you are at the right place most of the time.
Being at the right place requires a fair bit of luck, too.
There is an element of luck with anything in life: Being in the right place at the right time, being the right person as well as recognizing the opportunity. SV is a lucky place, YC is a lucky place, Stanford (or even a University) is a lucky place. How do you get to those places? You typically have to work hard at something to get the opportunity.