Reading 06: Hard Work

 I have done a complete 180 on Paul Graham. After reading the first set of essays written by him, particularly “Why Nerds Are Unpopular,” I got the impression that he was the type of person to blame everyone except himself when misfortune strikes. After reading “How to Make Wealth,” I have to step back and apologize for my misjudgement. 

I used to think the quote “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” was a cliche, but as I’ve progressed throughout my life, meeting various groups of individuals in different settings and organizations, I have begun to see the validity in the adage. So much so, that I believe “hard-working-ness” is the most valuable trait someone can possess (if we are looking at succeeding financially, politically, educationally, etc. If we are talking about the most important trait in general, I would argue kindness, but that’s a different story). I am a big fan of Malcolm Gladwell, as I believe his books, essays, podcasts, and other publishings tell really unique stories that generally tend to change my view on things. One unforgettable essay was titled “Complexity and the 10,000 Hour Rule.” While I forget what the “complexity” part of it was, the 10,000 hour rule states that to truly become an expert in something, you must spend 10,000 hours doing it. Ten-thousand hours is a long time. To put it in perspective, if you spent 8 hours a day doing something, it would take 3.42 years to reach that 10,000 hour mark. The essay was part of a larger book titled Outliers, one of my personal favorites, and there is a reference to Bill Gates and him becoming an expert in computing. Before I read the book, I had the premonition that Gates was some genius hacker who had a brilliant idea and capitalized on it. But after reading the book, thanks to some fortunate circumstances, Bill Gates had access to a computer terminal long before almost anyone his age, and would sneak out of his house to go program on it. I believe Gladwell said he had likely reached the 10,000 hour mark before he turned 16. So was Bill Gates just lucky? Sure, he had luck, but he was also the most talented hacker at his age, by a long shot.

This is a long tangent, that is minorly related, but this is all to say I am a big believer in hard work, so I really resonate with Graham finding it important when trying to generate a successful startup. I really liked how he said that working in a startup is like working at a corporate job, but condensed into 4 years. I don’t think people understand how much time, effort, and hard-work it takes to go into a startup. Heck, I don’t even know; I’ve never worked for one. But answering that last question, what Graham says about our present society: I would argue that he strongly encourages risk taking, and especially encourages hard work: both things I strongly believe in.