Any casual stroll through my Linkedin timeline shows multiple “inspirational” posts or articles referring to the “secrets of success” of wealthy entrepreneurs. The implications are obvious. If you do what these people do, you’ll be successful too! And if you aren’t successful, it’s probably your fault for not doing these things.
Sure, getting up early enough to go for a jog and make
yourself a smoothie is a good habit. But I know successful people who roll out
of bed at 8am, suck down a cup of instant coffee, and launch into their day
still wearing pajamas. So I think maybe that’s not really it.
But there is something real that most very successful people
share. It’s called privilege.
As soon as you mention the word “privilege,” some folks get
their knickers in a twist. I know, it’s not comfortable to talk about. We’re so
used to the American narrative of “hardships overcome” that we uncritically
accept a rose-tinted version of reality.
Bill Gates grew up in an upper-middle class family in
Seattle. His dad was a lawyer, and his mother was primarily a full-time parent
who was actively engaged in public service projects.
The story told is that Jeff Bezos started Amazon in his
garage. And so he did. Not everybody has a garage. Or a degree from Princeton.
Or parents who can invest $300,000 in their kid’s business idea.
Michael Dell, of course, is the college drop-out who made
good. He is also the son of a Houston stockbroker and got his first computer at
age 15, at a time when computers were so expensive that very few families could
afford them.
Google Elon Musk and you’ll find multiple reports of how he
was badly bullied as a child. Not to downplay how awful bullying is, but Elon
Musk also grew up a wealthy white kid in apartheid South Africa. His father was
an engineer, and his mother was a model and dietician. He attended private prep
schools as a youth.
Steve Jobs grew up in Silicon Valley with supportive
parents. His mom taught him to read before he started school. His dad was a
mechanic who gave him workshop space and taught him how to use tools and build
things. He had a teacher who saw his potential and mentored him when he was
struggling with school. A neighbor down the street taught him about electronics
and helped him get into a student program sponsored by HP, which led to him
getting an HP internship.
Warren Buffet’s dad was a stockbroker and a Congressman, and
his mother was a full-time parent.
George Soros was born to a prosperous family in Hungary. His
father was a lawyer who edited a literary magazine.
Howard Hughes was the son of a very successful inventor,
businessman, and entrepreneur who patented a roller bit for oil drilling that
made him a rich man.
Peter Thiel is the son of a chemical engineer.
Paul Allen attended private schools in Seattle and had
access to computer labs to experiment and learn in at a time when home
computers were unheard of.
And so on, and on.
It’s not that nothing bad ever happened to these guys. But
they had advantages that other people don’t have. They were born white and male
to educated and prosperous families. They had books and education and support.
While not everyone with these things succeeds to the level these guys did, it
honestly would have been a stranger tale if they had been complete failures.
Their stories aren’t that interesting to me. You could write a book about them
and call it “White Patriarchy Still Works.” So please don’t position them as
role models for all the people who don’t fit that mold.
I’d much rather hear about the people who aren’t white men. Be they conventional successes or cleaving their own paths through the challenges of life. I’ll learn much more from those.
