Most of the people who don't succeed financially made a terrible choice of who there parents were. It's probably the single most important choice one can make.

When I was about to start my PhD, a professor and good friend of mine (who already had one) told me: "The people who finish a PhD are not the most intelligent, but the most perseverant".

Some people don't live their lives to interact with high-power investors, but contribute vastly more value to society than people who do live their lives to do so.

I don't think I have ever seen so many people on HN be so envious of someone.

How many financial executives are there in the U.S.? Should we assume that each of their children founded a company and exited profitably by the age of 17?

Let's not take too much away from what this person accomplished.

Because I'm feeling a bit (just a tiny bit, I feel I'm almost beyond that) envious I almost want to celebrate your comment. Although there is a lot of true into this we have to admit that even kids born into riches are not that much more likely to be a world success. Because unless you have the will/desire to succeed you probably won't get that far. (Going to an ivy league school and working a nice cushy job is not enough in my book)

Granted, some people have been put closer to the finish line then most of us but I rather not take that as an excuse to explain away my lack of success.

p.s. I grew up in NYC to a working class poor immigrant family. The fact that I grew up in NYC is all the head start I needed. So far I've made to graduate school. There is still a long road ahead. No use complaining about which family I was born into.

that's not really fair to the kid. All of us are born with advantages that others lack. Every person living in America has access to wealth and connections that the average African can only dream of. That shouldn't take away from anyone's success here or diminish any of our accomplishments