When asked what someone can do to be successful in software:<p>&gt; That;s a tough one. get out of the box no1. REALLY out of the box. Abandon every social norm, esp those closest to you. Then look at the world with objective eyes. Look what is the thing to do? Every entrepreneur I know (I know Steve Jobs, and he was out of the box) went out of the box. If you can&#x27;t go work for someone else.<p>Yeah the older I get the more it becomes clear that there&#x27;s inherent conflict between following social norms (developing a cushy social life) and achieving something big. Like with being a startup founder I think almost all have to go through intense anti-social periods, admittedly I judge founders as being average or worse if they don&#x27;t seem to have some anti social or obsessive streak to them.<p>Kobe is a cool example too, a guy who had a relatively bizarre social life for an NBA player, with a manic obsession about work and improvement. I think he even said &quot;Friends come and go, but banners stay forever.&quot; Extreme, but hits on a deeper truth about what all it takes to make it big.