Exactly, luck is a necessary but not sufficient condition to success. I've witnessed individuals who were "at the right place and right time" (especially with regard to this recent wave of AI) and still didn't manage to capitalize on their headstart.
Improvement to story point estimation using LLMs. We're not too far from a world where an AI, starting with a simple ticket, can estimate how difficult that ticket is and then immediately solve and PR-it.
I'm also curious to see a study focused on psychoactive substances considering their proven track record of 'enhancing creativity'. It's also well known that early silicon valley was filled with microdosing enthusiasts.
Tapermonkey script I've been using to make youtube less of a rabbit hole. On the weekdays, it disables everything except new(ish) videos from your subscriptions.
Found this gem of an interview on Medium. Abbie Hoffman was one of the most influential figures in the 60s counter culture. This interview by Keith E. Lee explores his son's views on his father, mother, and his own life.
As the founder of an OSS company (granted we're seed stage), moat is becoming more and more of a concern, especially because:
1. There are more saas companies (read: competition) than ever
2. AI has made it significantly easier to build on-the-fly transpilation
Didn't see that mentioned in the article, but it's worth noting
It rarely is - only 1/4th of homeless adults in LA suffer from a severe mental illness [1].
The sad reality is that the difference between the folks you pass by on the street and you is often just a little bit of bad luck and no support system.
Go listen to interviews with the folks that live in the sewers in Vegas, most of them want to work but can't get a government ID because they've had their old Ids and birth certificates stolen a long time ago.
I met a woman in her 60s in Oakland who was homeless and worked three (part-time) jobs. Couldn't afford to rent even the cheapest of apartments, couldn't work her way out of debt, was unmarried and had no living relatives.
Ol' Uncle Sam tends to not take kindly to those that can't pay to play.
To reply to your last line: if you believe that "just work hard and you'll be successful", then you have to believe that the opposite is true, "if you are not successful, that must be because you're lazy".
Someone else said, "if hard work correlates to success, there'd be many millionaire African women.". But many successful people discount that they've had luck, e.g. the luck of being born in a rich country/to rich parents.
