Frighteningly Ambitious People

http://diegobasch.com/frighteningly-ambitious-people

by zohaibr • 14 years ago

21 5 14 years ago

shingen• 14 years ago

I think it's entirely possible to be both throughout a lifetime. I've been frighteningly ambitious and conservative at different points in my life and with different ideas.

When I was 21 / 22, I decided I was going to take on eBay. The premise, circa 2002, was to wipe out fees and shift the monetization to information and reselling (provide analytics & data to the sellers, and a re-selling channel in which they could contact buyers and attempt to generate repeat business). Basically sell tools and productivity to the sellers, instead of just slapping them with fees; at the time eBay was borderline retarded when it came to analytics and data provided by the marketplace.

I built the service, launched it, got modest early traction, took no venture capital, used guerrilla marketing, and then a really bad event struck my life that was outside my control. Shit happens and all that.

My latest venture is more modest, and I'm older and wiser. The odds of success are radically higher in this venture.

At 30 (no kids yet), I find my threshold for frighteningly ambitious projects is now primarily dependent on my personal finances. At 21 I didn't give a shit, at all. When I add another layer of financial security, I'll chase the dragon again - I really can't wait.

tsantero• 14 years ago

"Ambition is key because he[Bill Gates] could have left Microsoft much earlier, and moved on to do anything else he wanted as extremely wealthy man. He was already a billionaire when he chose to stay, and turned Microsoft into an empire."

Value creates opportunity.

I'm not suggesting that Bill Gates wasn't/isn't ambitious, but if one of your ventures has made you a billionaire I'd imagine it be much easier to stay on board and see how far you can ride that train.

javert• 14 years ago

When it comes to ambition, I tend to agree. Ideas are not ambitious, people are.

The author just doesn't support this claim. All the examples he gives (Bill Gates, Zuckerburg, and people leading successful companies) could just as easily be explained by:

Successful people are usually those who find a line of work they truly enjoy and pursue it, with some luck.

To me, that kind of person seems more likely to make it than someone who is just "extremely ambitious" without those qualities.

To me, this little writeup comes across as a pseudo-philosophical pep talk (i.e., basically hogwash).

diego• 14 years ago

Yeah, it's all idle speculation based on personal life experiences. No hard science to back it up.

intenex• 14 years ago

Sperm vs monkey climbing a tree to eat a banana? I'm not sure that's a valid comparison on any level.

Frighteningly Ambitious People

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