It is obvious that you can't really have any social advancement without any supporting social dynamics. Also odds are overwhelmingly against any given individual becoming a billionaire from a commoner background… yet the examples are numerous, and particularly in tech.

I'm not commenting about merits of Graham's observations as am not a venture capitalist. But the LTV bit you were on, that's some ancient bullshit. I lived in the tail end of USSR, could observe first hand how well it worked.