Silicon Valley's Golden Boys

Those 20 year old boys with a million

Recently, a strange guy often comes to our desk and asks, "What is the fastest way to make money?" He seemed brainwashed by capitalism, but…

he was only 20 and had made a million USD.

In San Francisco, there are many founders, and while many fail, many also succeed. You might think those who succeed must be smart and hardworking, but that's not enough. They are wild. A recent news headline read, “The 19-year-old built a $1.5M AI startup in 7 days.”

How funny is this?

I see so many people around me—friends, classmates, founders—working hard every day from 8 am to 11 pm including weekends. Some of them work so aggressively that I no longer feel comfortable around them. Sadly, compared to him, they all seem pathetic.

I'm not saying our lives are messed up because we can't earn a million when we're 20. It's just that comparison will never end. As I enter the new incubator, I can immediately tell all these college kids and 20-year-old dropouts are very, very good. In fact, they might still be much better than me today.

Do you remember who you were when you were 20? Back then, I couldn’t even have a good conversation in English! I didn't believe I could learn computer science! I didn't imagine earning money at all!

It’s so ironic that people always find ways to compare. Back then, people around me compared TOEFL scores and posted their grades on Facebook. Nowadays, people compare user growth, ARR, MRR, and investment. Different environments lead to different comparisons, and there's almost always someone better than you.

Yet, life experiences can hardly be compared. While he spends most of his time thinking about how to make more money and replies to his haters on Twitter with, "Go ask your dad to work harder," I don't know how much I appreciate how these experiences shape a person. I really really like my path. I might not be the best in every environment I’m in, but I’m loyal and honest in my learning and growth. We are born so differently. We are born in different places, with different exposures and different families. There are so many things we cannot choose or change.

I wonder what my life would look like if I lived his life. I wouldn't have university experiences, but I would have tons of users and money. Hmm… actually, I don’t know if my 20-year-old self would like this because it doesn’t sound that attractive to me today, either. Hahaha.

Though I disagree with most of his values and desires, I'm very happy to meet wild people like him. They show me possibilities. Stories often tell us how impossible it is to build a company or earn a million. They describe all these successful people as incomparably smart with some sort of Jesus quality. And you met them and realized they are still a boy. And after hearing those stories, you turn back to your laptop and continue working on what you love again.