<i>from what I've seen in the people around me that 'made' it without a tremendous amount of luck or access to outside capital, starting from 0 with nothing to show for themselves but the shirts on their backs and their skills</i><p>Love the way Jacques removed the outliers Mark and Bill from the discussion in the very beginning. Every advise is well reasoned and articulated with precision.<p>Of course, in the middle of your journey you might find your own shortcut trail to being in the first road, till then keep trying. Keep Hacking!
This was the first lengthy article I read today and what a great way to start the day! It's not sexy - it's not hip - it's just some good old fashioned advice framed in a way that anyone should be able to understand. I especially appreciate the way he defined "The Top."<p>"someone that I helped (this will be my downfall one day)"<p>I doubt this will be your downfall! It's likely a major contributor to your rising!!! I know you only from your contributions to HN, and now your blog posts - and I hope you continue to provide your valuable insights to those you've never met!<p>p.s. - I sure wish you would come back!
A good read about working hard with constant learning. This 3rd road of 'Keep Moving' reminds me of the Seinfeld Calendar (<a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1033433" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1033433</a>).<p>Every day, you want to be able to have something to show for it. While it won't pay off immediately, constantly learning new things and having the experience to show for it will make you stronger, marketable, and ideally self-sustainable.
Good read, and basically my strategy: measure success as relative freedom from worry, time for self and professional development, accruing assets, and lack of debt. Achieve his by focused hard work, but don't work so hard that you burn out.
But what if you really start at the bottom? Like a homeless person without job. I wonder if those rules could also be applied to them. Because if they do, I would like to tell the guys in the street...