Poor guys aren’t supposed to get rich

Having grown in a Third World country, I can relate to your story. I was never really poor for local standards — more like middle class, whatever that meant in Brazil during the 1970s (I can tell, it’s not a lot). But I remember short periods where my father was jobless, and where we had trouble buying food. Some of my relatives and neighbors were way poorer, so I know how it feels.

Many of your words deeply resonate with me. As I was commenting on Twitter, where I picked up this discussion first, many ideas crossed my mind, just to learn more about your own experience later when I got to your post.

I commented — before reading your post — that I’ve seem lots of highly talented people never make it due to three reasons: lack of self esteem, fear of risk, and lack of social skills. And it’s all here in your post.

What rich (or non-poor) people don’t get is how much the lack of social skills create a immense gap for the poor to cross. You lack self confidence. You don’t know how to behave in a given situation. You settle for the safe exit instead of aiming for the big one.

I also find it disturbing how the few examples of really disadvantaged people manage to create the impression that it’s just a matter of hard work. For every poor guy that succeeds, many others never make it. The exception are those lucky to find a break (the earlier in life, the better); and those who are tremendously driven. The thing is, the few really driven people would succeeed anyway. But not everybody share this drive, and many people — middle class or rich — don’t need to be so driven to succeed.

I’d like to close thanking your for your post. It’s important for people that realize how far they’ve come, how much they’ve done, to share their stories. There’s a multitude of people everywhere in the world waiting for a chance. Highly talented founders, entrepreneurs, coders, artists. Teaching these people that they can succeed and giving them the tools for self development is a necessary step. It’s not only about social justice. It’s good business, it’s giving the best among us a chance at winning. Everyone wins.