[ohdeargodno]

If you're going to forget that his girlfriend worked two jobs for 5 years to even support him being able to do that, yeah, he was "alone". Just like trust fund startup bros make it "alone" (with the 500k their parents gave them).

[bko]

Yes this still counts as "alone". Stop diminishing hard work and talent. A lot of parents give their kids 6 figure amounts, almost all of them don't do anything with it.

[ohdeargodno]

>Couldn't ever do it alone without having someone (that loves him) sacrificing so much for him.

>Yes this counts as "alone"

I don't even know what to say to that, I guess we're just straight up redefining words to make yourself feel good?

[preommr]

I am curious which of the following (if any) you would define as alone:

1) one person but they take VC funding

2) one person but they use open source solutions

3) one person but they live with their parents

4) one person that lives completely off of what they earned themselves previously, but they did get government funded student loans that let them make money in the first place.

[ysavir]

Don't forget:

5) One person with a copper mine and a soldering gun.

[margalabargala]

None of these. Even the guy who runs the Primitive Technology youtube channel, building up technology solo from literal sticks and rocks he gathers himself, would not be alone, because he did not too personally manufacture the digital camera he uses to record himself creating these things.

Also, was he not born? Can anyone be said to do anything alone, who did not themselves arise spontaneously from the primordial soup?

/s

[dlivingston]

You're making some meta-point about "aloneness" where it's disqualified if they have some pre-existing threshold of wealth or connections. I disagree that's disqualifying, especially because you can play that game all the way to the bottom.

Q: was only a single person instrumental to the creation of (product/service)?

A: if yes, then yes; if not, then no. "Yes, but... [help from family / existing wealth / ...]". Irrelevant to me.

[aakkaakk]

And some go broke 4 times even with a billion from their parents. And still claims a win!

[hoppp]

Lucky people. Most parents dont have 6 figures to give tho

[bko]

Most as in < 50%, sure. However a lot of parents do.

> Nearly 60% of households in the U.S. have a net worth of $100,000 or more after accounting for debts, with 29.2% having a net worth of $500,000 or more.

If you live your life thinking you could be great if you only had some 6 figure payout, you're delusional. Building something is hard.

https://smartasset.com/data-studies/net-worth-states-2025

[hoppp]

Im in Europe and I think its more rare here for parents to gift 6 figures to their kids.

Houses for sure, but cash? Not that common.

I am great at building without 6 figures, heck I build great things for free, why? Cuz its also my hobby.

[throwawaylaptop]

That's just semantics. I worked as a car salesman, saved over $250k, and quit to become a self taught saas guy and my php jquery mess now supports me.

Did I do it alone? You'd argue that no, I had my old bosses help or something because he gave me the funds to learn and work on it?

If he got it from parents instead would that change anything? What about getting it from his own savings?

[LarsDu88]

This still counts as alone in the same way we don't consider Steve Jobs parents renting out their garage or Bill Gates mom bringing him into IBM boardroom executive meetings at the age of 12