[pshin45]

> Once you have ordinary intelligence, what you need is the temperament to control the urges that get other people into trouble in investing.

Temperament really is everything, and investing and/or gambling brings out the worst in people.

I used to play a lot of poker (which I consider a pretty good proxy for investing) in college and it was amazing to me how some of my smartest friends could be so horrendously bad at it.

For example, one of my Math major friends just couldn't control himself. He'd start with e.g. $1,000 playing online, get up to $10,000 in a few hours, and then blow it all soon after. He repeated this cycle too many times for me to count.

One of my pre-med friends was so smart and so confident both academically and socially, but he'd be the most timid and passive person at the poker table, never being able to raise or bluff anyone and usually losing all his money to more aggressive players.

I'd also venture (no pun intended) to say that most VCs are terrible investors as well - Following the herd, short-sighted, and little to no appetite for big ambitious long-term investments of time and money.