[ritchiea]

Ha.

I would say a better question is, how does someone who grows up poor do this? And/or someone with parents who do not give them access to excellent schooling. And/or currently feels excluded from the industry despite being talented.

[jimray]

This was exactly my big gripe with the story, particularly Swisher's insistence on writing it as "rags to riches" (even using that very well worn cliche verbatim). The fact is, Systrom, like Zuckerberg, was practically guaranteed success in life, starting with his $30k/year prep school. This isn't rags to riches, it's well-off to obscenely rich, or if you prefer, how to go from the 1% to the .1%.

Not that it isn't a story, it sure ain't Horatio Alger, though.