Thanks for the praise, but there was definitely some luck!

That being said, even without money, I had privilege. I am 100% sure that a black guy or even a white woman with exactly the same intelligence and credentials as I had would not have been able to succeed as I did, due to sexism and racism. I was a tall, white, good looking American man in pre-Iraq war days. That brought a lot of privilege with it in Europe back then.

I had no family, no possessions other than a car, a motorcyle and some furniture — but most importantly looking at 2021 — no student loan debt. When I went to school back in the pleistocene epoch, state schools were affordable for middle class families. If I were six years out of college today as I was when I started my business, I would have something over $50k (100k?) in student loan debt. Would I have taken that risk with that big monthly nut to pay? Probably not.

All that being said, it is definitely an attitude that you have to grasp the brass ring when it presents itself. In all the years I’ve been self-employed, it is the chances I didn’t take that I regret most. Far more than the bad projects I did take and made no money on or even lost money.