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My guess is that about 50% are repeat founders and a majority of the rest are FAANG, Ivy League, or Stanford alums.

(This is a genuine guess, not a knock on YC)




The truth behind many "self-made" successes: Private school -> Legacy Ivy admission -> Nepotism hire -> Seed capital from family -> Family network -> Personal assistance -> Strong belief they're "self-made"

Credit: https://twitter.com/ethicsinbricks/status/142871171687613645...


I have absolutely no problem with helping my children get every possible advantage I can muster. My family is an institution and their upbringing, education, personal satisfaction, and financial situation is cared for deeply by the family - parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

I will do everything in my power to give my children all of my financial resources when I die (and prevent the state from taking it) and ensure their comfort to the best of my ability.

Those without children cannot understand the bond between parents and children. The thought of them being destitute when I could have prevented it is painful. I will use all of my business and personal connections to help them and have zero qualms about doing so.

Do you know why so many billionaires came from rich families? Because their great grandparents helped their grandparents who helped their parents who helped them. This is not an anti-pattern, this is called good morals, a belief in family, and strong dedication to the next generation.

You should be totally free to die and donate all of your assets to the government or total strangers. I myself will give every possible penny to my children so they can thrive. I pray everyone can make that choice freely and not be coerced into a decision they didn’t want.


That's fine. Just don't tell everyone that your kid is "self-made." Tell them what you did to help them as you did just now, and that not everyone is so privileged.


So nepotism = good morals?

You pray everyone can make the choice freely and not be coerced into a decision they did not want. Let's pretend that your family is from the USA and has been the beneficiary of slave labor, that without slavery, your family would not have the generational wealth that it has been able to pass onto you. Do you pray for these slaves also and do you also want them to not be coerced into making money for you?


Every government on earth since the beginning of time is not without injustice. The Aztecs enslaved and brutally dominated their region which is how the Spanish were able to conquer them - the enemies of the Aztecs joined forces with the Spanish in order to destroy a society they saw as a great evil.

The African slaves themselves were sold to the slavers by African kings, such as in Benin, who profited from the export of their enemies.

Where do you want the self flagellation to end? Injustice has been happening since the beginning of civilization.


It can’t be better written!!!

One of my side gigs is a small rental property development. I do it with my mom. She does administration, I fund it from my salary/do actual work when I can. So 2 generations joined forces to help the youngest one. It will take many years to finish, but the benefit is clear: my kids will leave school having rental income equal to average salary in Germany. They will able to stand their ground. I worked shitty jobs when I had no choice for 2,3 and 5€/hour and don’t wish these to anybody.

Alternatively I could buy me a small yacht and do nothing. It is also an alternative.


Unfortunately squandering your money on fleeting experiences is considered a positive by society, but patiently saving, building assets and businesses, and becoming wealthy is seen as an injustice.

Hopefully property rights continue to be preserved but I worry society is trending towards taking from the productive to waste on those who squander.


Yes, family is an institution, and what you describe is beautiful dedication. Also society is an institution, and as they say "it takes a village to raise a child".


Both my wife and I have ancestors murdered by the state for the good of society, so we are a bit jaded.


All our ancestries contain victims, mine too. Albeit it is of difficult personal digestion, focusing on that might not deliver the best life experience.


44% of Meta employees are women.

51% of Stanford Undergraduates are women.

51% of Harvard Undergraduates are women. MIT is close to that ratio as well.

49% of new businesses in the US in 2021 were started by women.

48%+ all US businesses are owned by women.


Pretty sure that in all those cases 10-20% of software engineers are women and you get 50% because in other jobs (marketing, hr) 80% are women.

You would have a point about discrimination if 50% of applicants had women but e.g. only 15% of those were accepted.

This data is not published but I highly suspect that 15% of applicants included a woman and 15% were funded.


Ok?


> 15% of the companies have a woman founder and 9% of the founders are women.


Can I get a source on this please? In particular I would be curious about what is the breakdown in the % of female engineers and female management in Meta.


50% of the people on the planet are women, but that is a meaningless statistic because we are specifically talking about tech.


Does women include trans people?




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