I'll preface by saying that I'm usually a fan of what Ron has to say. I've seen him speak at several Startup Schools, but this chat kind of rubbed me the wrong way. He came off as a man who's finally settled into more extreme, absolutist, and comfortable views. Very binary platitudes that have no regard for context.

This idea that you're either born with it or not is an opinion of his with which I take particular issue. A lot of people have their growth spurts later in life. Many are born in environments that often stifle self-derived drive, flounder, and take off. To reduce it to two main camps of haves and have-nots is not a healthy attitude, and will lead to a lot of folks doubting themselves, or viewing others who're successful as those who were just born with it, as if people cannot change and qualities develop. In fact, Ron, during SS13, mentioned Ben Silbermann's (Pinterest founder) soft-spoken and unaggressive nature, and how Ron was trying to get him to speak up. Ben certainly doesn't seem to fit the image of the prototypical founder that Ron is painting.

And as to the "age bigot," I think that's fine if you're focused on social -- that demographic is by nature closer to the pulse of what's hot and trendy. But I think it is highly unlikely that a person in their 20s could have feasibly founded a SpaceX or Tesla, or really any seriously industry-toppling startup without having either the connections, the wealth, and/or the industry experience to pull it off.

I say all this as a 27yo who hopes to found his own startup in the near future.