[jprete]

This guy seems very high energy, intense, won’t give up, into the tech, likes to build and do. Also tried different ways to learn until something got him to stick to a project. He also seems to understand self-promotion, sales, and networking. I am guessing he’s very smart and needs actual challenge to motivate himself which is why he didn’t bother finishing HS (or just didn’t write about it!).

I haven’t seen his work of course but it seems totally possible from this view.

[nerdponx]

He also seems like he got lucky starting in a constructive and productive work environment. If you don't have this level of support and opportunity in your first couple of years in industry, you're in for a much harder time. Partly because you don't learn as much, partly because you don't build as many connections, and partly because you end up learning bad habits that you need to unlearn later. Obviously a good start isn't everything, but it makes a tremendous difference, and it's almost impossible to understand if you've never seen what a bad start can be like.