I'm tired of all these stories about reckless people remortgaging their houses to work on a startup. It's as though being reckless is a virtue. It's encouraging others to do the same and fall flat on their faces.
Anybody with that kind of starting position could retire early. Most folks don't have that kind of starting position.
Of course, there are plenty of folks who inherit a house, make $200k+, and still do not manage to have the discipline to do what he's done (reduce expenses, etc). But... yes, he's had lucky breaks and situations not everyone will have. To the extent he helps encourage people to reduce expenses and get a handle on their finances, it's useful, imo, but yeah, knowing how he got started can help keep a perspective on the advice.