My favorite line:<p>&gt; Compare that level of confidence to a kid with successful parents who’d say something along the lines of “If you can believe it, you can achieve it!” Now imagine walking into a VC office having to compete with that kid. He’s so convinced that he’s going to change the world, and that’s going to show in his pitch.<p>I enjoyed this article a lot but clearly this guy also made some of his own hardships.  Going on ski trips just to fit in and then running out of money is incompatible with the image of a frugal poor kid.