A Silicon Valley VC leaves work to pursue his Olympic dream

People get rich in a number of ways (including hard work) but connections in high places are usually made through subtle extortion. That's the only way to get into a good-ole-boy network like the hash the VCs have made of Silicon Valley.

Why do you think it matters so much where one went to school, with earlier education (undergrad over grad, prep school over undergrad) even more important? If you went to prep high school with someone powerful, you met him when he was half-formed and doing all kinds of stupid shit, so you have ample extortion material. You never mention it in an extortionate context; he just knows that if you need a favor from him-- such as an intro to a big-name VC-- he will deliver. If you did grad school with him, not as much; most people have been through most of the stupid shit they're going to pull by that age.

You can tell that I don't have much respect for the private-sector social climbers that rule VC-istan. I know far too much to respect them.