Origin Story
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Audio Recording by George Hahn
Every one of us has an origin story: We define ourselves by our background, the narrative of what made us who we are. However, people often don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story, and the narrative of “I” is often that, a story.
James Frey found no takers for his novel, so he repackaged it as a memoir, his story, which became the No. 1 bestseller A Million Little Pieces. Biographies and memoirs are America’s second-favorite book genre. Ronald Reagan tried to curry favor with Israeli leaders with a story about how he helped liberate Nazi death camps in WWII. He didn’t — did his military service in Hollywood. P. Diddy built an empire on allusions to his criminal past, but he attended the same prep school as the founder of Sequoia Capital before attending Howard University. Fabricated military service is apparently so common that Congress passed a law against it.
People embellish their origin stories, as it’s the only thing others have to go on — from potential employers and friends to potential mates. We are the product of our circumstances, personally and professionally, and a good origin story confers meaning to our life and career. We should recognize that and embrace it … but also be honest about it.
Self-Made? No Such Thing
The most important factor in determining a person’s future is when and where they are born. Each of us, born into any other situation, would experience a different outcome. Just as the market trumps individual performance, so does circumstance. I likely would not be an entrepreneur or an academic had I been born in South Sudan. If I’d been born in 1920s Germany, I’d likely have been a Nazi who perished on a Russian field.
This isn’t just true across continents and centuries — it’s also evident at a micro level. Being born one year earlier or later can make a big difference. People who graduate into a recession earn less for 10 to 15 years than those who graduate amid prosperity. Fate also changes block to block: One of the strongest signals of life expectancy (and much else) is the ZIP code where you’re born. Within the same city, life expectancy can vary by 30 years based on ZIP code. Meanwhile, an American female whose parents rank in the bottom decile of earners has a 3 in 10 chance of giving birth as a teenager. For daughters in the top decile, it’s 3 in 100.
This all confirms a basic point: The cards you’re dealt matter … a lot. Your income is the clearest indicator of how much money your kid will make when they’re 30. Churn is increasingly a rare-earth element in the U.S. Per a Georgetown analysis, “It’s better to be born rich than smart … The most talented disadvantaged children have a lower chance of academic and early career success than the least talented affluent children.”
However, the people dealt the best cards can’t see their hands. The myth of the “self-made man” is rife among U.S. citizens who’ve never faced a draft or registered a devaluation in their currency — people who are remora fish on investments made by the U.S. government. Tech has raised a cohort of people who simultaneously credit their character for their success and blame a rigged market for their failures. The real cage match in tech is entitlement vs. empathy. The former is winning, and that results in a staggering accumulation of power that’s amoral, focused only on the aggregation of more power regardless of what happens to people with less. (Side note: I hope they beat the shit out of each other. Is that wrong?)
iStory
Until 40, my story was that I was the son of a single immigrant mother who lived and died a secretary. I overcame those humble beginnings to achieve significant success because, you know, I’m awesome. After 40, my eyesight began to wane, but I could see clearer: I was born a straight white male in 1960s California, which gave me state-sponsored access to elite universities (UCLA and Berkeley). UCLA had an acceptance rate of 76% when I applied — this year it’s less than 9%. Later, Berkeley admitted me to its MBA program with a GPA of (no joke) 2.27 from UCLA. Total tuition for all seven years? $8,000. I came of professional age in an era of processing power and the internet. I lived in San Francisco, where, in the decade of the nineties, more wealth was created within a 7-mile radius than in all of Europe since WWII.
I was given a rocket ship, built by others. To be clear, I’m talented and navigated the ship well … but I wasn’t going to soar without the sacrifice and talent of millions of others. The ship blew up several times, but I survived, and there were other vessels waiting. “Luck” doesn’t begin to describe my situation. My freshman college roommate, born gay, took his own life at 33 when his HIV progressed to full-blown AIDS. Two decades later, I’m in Ibiza with friends finding a quiet place to FaceTime my boys and get updates on our dog Leia. (She’s not feeling well.)
Like others, I have faced hardship (an absent father) and tragedy (lost my mom early). But each of these losses has played a role in my good fortune. I make my living communicating, and much of this skill isn’t the result of my own hard work. My dad can captivate any room, and even though he wasn’t around much, I inherited some of his ability. My mom’s sickness, and our inability to access good care, was a hugely motivating, defining moment for me. I saw the rough cut of the American story and decided to get my shit together in hopes of living a richer life and garnering the resources to take better care of the people who mattered to me. Capitalism is brutal — and motivating. Lately, the balance has swung too far to the former. But that’s another post.
Coming Home
Supposedly each of us has bits of every material present at the dawn of the universe. It makes sense — at least the morning after mushroom chocolates (see above: Ibiza) — that our matter will also be present in galaxies/stars/planets/organisms birthed trillions of years from now. Our stories may or may not make the journey, but the emotions they inspire will become instinct, then DNA, and this matter will disperse. So the question is, distinct from the story you and others tell about yourself, how do you make people feel? When people come in contact with you, do they feel insecure or inspired? Do you leave people cold or comforted? Do you bring joy, harmony, love?
I’m in a deficit here — I’ve taken more than I’ve given. I have a debt to pay. I’ve started with my boys and am working outward from there. Still time. It’s a comforting thought, that bits of us will live on and arrive at distant places trillions of years from now. We all have our longest journey still ahead of us. When you get there, when you show up, what will be felt?
Life is so rich,
P.S. This week on the Prof G Pod, I spoke with Kai Ryssdal, host and senior editor of Marketplace. We talked economics, fatherhood, being a good partner, and more. Listen here.
P.P.S. Section’s new Marketing Mini-MBA bootcamp is launching this fall. Cohorts are limited to 100 people, so join the waitlist to be the first to hear when enrollment opens.
Great post. One observation–you might have been in a German military uniform, dead on a field in the Soviet Union. But you wouldn’t necessarily have been a Nazi. The Nazis were a political party. Not all Germans were Nazis. I’d wager most of the rank and file who did the dying in the German military during WWII were not Nazis.
Hi,
I love it that you express how capitalism is both great and very complicated (especially unfair), and how we must work with and in it. I come from a place where wealth is frowned upon and no-one is supposed to stand out. That is confusing and not effective for thriving societies.
Of course it matters where we come from but it also matters how we navigate and if and how we use our efforts and powers. It starts with awareness and humility. And we must work.
I’m having a look at that graph about child income rank vs parent income rank, and I don’t see exactly the same story you do.
Take someone at the 99% rank. What will be the expected income rank of his kids? Looks somewhat under 70%. How about their kids then? Maybe about 56%. From the fabled 1% to upper run-of-the-mill in 2 generations.
And if go to the other end of the graph. The lowest value is for the 10%. How do their kids fare? About 30% income rank. A nice progression. And their kids? Looks like 43%. From the dumps at 10% to lower run-of-the-mill in 2 generations.
Is it better to be born to rich parents than poor ones? Yes, definitely. But things regress to the mean fairly quickly.
Prof G. frequently focuses on graph ‘shapes’ to obscure a point inconvenient to his arguments, this being one example. Text around teenage birth rate implies causation, while it only shows correlation.
Goodness me, this is sublime. Saving this. Thanks for writing, Scott.
Thanx for the hinsight
One of my takeaways is the “social surroundings” aspect, being around other achievement focused individuals, in your case college played a huge part of the journey. One of the ways out of the income disparity is reading, as well. I believe a saw a stat that if you read 5 books a year, you’ll earn 10%-20% more than those who don’t. Great Post, I’ll listen to the podcast.
Data driven correlations between success and birth station mask too many variables and prominent exceptions. Notions of universal and elemental eternity? Entertaining flights of fancy without substance.
I think (would love to learn here by being corrected), Scott cites an empirical observations ” Your income is the clearest indicator of how much money your kid will make when they’re 30.”.
“A belief system that says this does not need to be so”, has to be the mantra of the individual(s) seeking exceptionalism. This has to be despite many structural barriers (almost in any society).
” When people come in contact with you, do they feel insecure or inspired? Do you leave people cold or comforted? Do you bring joy, harmony, love? ” – This resonates with me daily and goes to personal joy and fulfilment.
Finally, regarding being amoral . . . I always wonder whether this was likely to happen when capitalism became a religion for many … or did the vacuum created by religious belief provided the back drop for being amoral . . .
Scott- ur awesome freakin amazin- right and I’m Lebron James- Im a great whitel player but im not him.
This self adulation belies an insecurity but we understand your human.
Even after all your success you want to shout it again and again.
Well, I submit Im happier and just as awesome as you- I have a wife 30 years my junior and 3 half Asian-American kids; two are daughters. And Im lucky I survived a plane crash the 2008 depression and a serious spine disease. I cant tie my own shoes but I think and feel therefore I am.
You allude to your mother a lot- replace her with your wife or even get IVf- have a daughter
They are different and you’ll be calling them awesome not just you.
IMO
I like you but get off this deterministic empty track.
You were born – Heidegger would say thrown into the world like all us.
Isn’t that enough good to think about
OAUTopic why did you move to London? PGraham lives there too,
You should idolize him not blowhard EM.
Good move, Now that was effort meets luck.
What kind of argument was that? You sound like a Russian Disinformation Troll. Between the middle school aptitude at spelling and your scattered discourse, it’s difficult to understand your point. You just sound so strange here. Take a nap.
This might be your most powerful and truly universal post yet, thanks Prof….Roy – Perth, Australia
I’m a big admirer. Also part of the Conscious Capitalism community. I live in San Diego and NYC. As Co-Chair of SD chapter of CC I’m also on board of Cause San Diego Conference. We would LOVE for you to consider delivering the keynote for this conference…September 14th.
Thank you. Laura Hall
This week’s bit on Origin story makes some good points. Maybe it’s your age vs mine but in the USA when I was growing up I understood, “self-made” to mean you could be any gender or ethnicity and your success was not inherited but the result of a combination of one’s initiative, persistence, and opportunities pursued – (although originally I think it meant white males). Thanks for continuing to stimulate new discussions. I
Scott- You left out a critical reason why some/ most people succeed. Resourcefulness and the ability to take action when an opportunity arises. Many people fail to act or are oblivious to the opportunity.
Importantly: There is more opportunity today than at anytime ever in the history of mankind.
Why?
1. The internet. Good ideas scale- unlike at anytime in history. Translation: virtually limitless upside.
2. Tools: Most US citizens have cell phones that are more powerful than super computers were just 10-20 years ago.
3. Information: More accessible and virtually unlimited. Today, almost everyone has more information at their fingertips than the president of the US did when GW Bush was president.
4. Education: Free online education from top universities. Stanford, Yale, etc.
If your resourceful from almost any economic background- there has never been more opportunity and never been a better time to be alive.
The left has turned into a party of pessimists. Progress occurs through optimism.
Nice job missing the entire point of the piece.
While I agree with each of your points–including partly agreeing with the last point, I think all of what you state can be true AND what Scott writes remains true and critically important. Your argument is often touted by the existing wealthy (I recently heard an interview with Warren Buffet where he parroted everything you state about US opportunity). Meanwhile, when pressed on the growing gap between rich/poor in the US he had little to say. Well, Scott is represented that side of the story–one that people of his socioecon status rarely speak up on. You should commend him.
I agree and I did commend him for the essay on a separate post.
Great reminder to always be both grateful and humble no matter how successful
This was my first exposure to your writing/thinking. A friend has enjoyed following you and thought I might too. I found my head tilting at almost every sentence and stopped to reread frequently. Looking forward to more.
You’ve inspired me to fix my own deficit problem. Thanks Prof G!
To get a sure lottery winning number, I will advise you to get in touch with Dr Amber for he helped me win the lottery of $1 million dollars. He is very reliable. Email: amberlottotemple @ gmail . com
Provocative and inspiring post Scott.
Also, loved the Kai Ryssdal conversation – such an honest discussion on family and fatherhood. Thank you.
Another great read. Uplifting. TY!
And- Scott, you are an exception to your income chart.
Required reading, still resonating. Know I won the lottery a few times (Born: Cambridge, MA 1958) and having lived and worked in U.S., Europe, and Asia experienced it first hand. Thanks for putting it into words in a way that challenges us to explore, revisit, and evolve our perspective in the Universe. Now on a mission to improve human health and performance…
THIS: “The real cage match in tech is entitlement vs. empathy. The former is winning, and that results in a staggering accumulation of power that’s amoral, focused only on the aggregation of more power regardless of what happens to people with less.”
As a person who has been in Tech for the past 20 years, the above sentence has become the most repugnant. And, this sentence was beautifully illuminated for me in a single pile of $hit while walking in San Francisco’s financial district one day. Yes, as I nearly stepped in a pile of $hit, and then another, and another, I understood that in this city of astounding riches, people were so poor that they were defecating right in the streets. Astounding. A person who is defecating publicly is sending us all a message: I matter, I am here, and I feel unseen, unheard. It’s a sign of anger at circumstance or an unnamed group of people, but we know who the people are: the entitled class of techno gliteratti. In many ways, people like me, who changed the landscape of tech hubs like San Francisco, and in spite of all of the “sustainability” talk and coconut water, managed to leave our empathy at home. Are we saying that in all of San Francisco there was not enough money to create a sustainable cost of living situation for all to reduce or limit homelessness? Or are we saying that the tech gliteratti, along with all of the other folks flexing in their high rise apartments didn’t have the WILL to do so? Entitlement vs. empathy.
Extreme liberal policies with woke culture births the outcome know as the once great city of San Francisco. Capitalism is brutal and bad public policy results in bad outcomes. Yes, we all need to do better. Free stuff only creates more grifters. The best charity is decentralized/ local.
Amazing that you had the gall to post the same nonsense twice. Define ‘woke’. Explain how capitalism, which creates housing prices, supposedly had nothing to do with the SF homeless problem. Explain why Musk and big banks shouldn’t have to return all the free money they’ve gotten from the US government. Explain why corporate handouts and bailouts are OK but helping people on the bottom is not. Explain why the uber-wealthy should pay less tax, and/or at a lower rate, than ordinary people. Explain why it’s OK that full-time workers at minimum wage can’t afford rent. Explain why you failed to understand the simple concept of the article.
Obviously, your questions indicate your inability to understand the problems. Many of these public policy failures in San Francisco are a direct result of the solutions you champion.
Perhaps, if your argument were connected paragraph-level discourse explaining your perspective, you might be more convincing.
Unfortunately, two unconnected sentences leave your audience unfulfilled and confused. Your credibility is absent here. Weak argument.
Ugh yawn.
Scott relax your not so so lucky.
I’m luckier than you
I have a beautiful wife 30 years younger,2 beautiful daughters and a
Extreme liberal policies with woke culture births the outcome know as the once great city of San Francisco. Capitalism is brutal and bad public policy results in bad outcomes. Yes, we all need to do better. Free stuff only creates more grifters. The best charity is decentralized/ local.
The only grifters are the Trump Insurgents. Are you one of those too?
I voted for Biden. LOL
Great post. Should be required reading for the techno-glitterati.
I’m confused by the first graphic, shouldn’t percentages add up to 100? Or i’m missing something? Great thoughts as always, love it.
Many people enjoy more than one genre.
You are right, looks that choosing several genre skipped my mind -), thanks for pointing
This is awesome Prof G 🧡
It puts things into perspective. No need to be all self-made.. Just work towards being in a surplus.
The biggest gift to each of us is the social inheritance that past generations have given to everyone
in the present. The knowledge, science, language, literacy, communications, medicine, the streets we walk on, and everhthing else that makes up civiliztion. This was left out of the story.
Scott beautifully written.
I’m 45 now, the same age that my father was when he died of Cancer. As a relatively uneducated immigrant with English as a second (or fourth) language he did his best as a shipper/receiver to provide for his family.
Part of me can paint the story of myself as an orphan that overcame the odds to create economic security for myself. Part of me could reminisce about not being “Anglo” enough to join “that” private club.
The truth is I’ve been very lucky. I’m sure your story would rhyme with mine. We’ve all faced much adversity and no doubt luck has been a huge part of our achievements . As grateful as I am for how lucky I have been I also believe that I stepped up, put in the second effort whenever someone gave me a chance or saw some potential in me. As far as I am concerned most of the luck in my life has been the fact that along the way people have seen some potential in me and gave me a chance.
Aside from timing and circumstances we should be grateful for those that saw our potential along the way and that we had the grit to make the effort when given the chance.Luck is also the residue of diligence.
OK, Scott. Clearly the system of American Democracy has given you a lot. maybe too much.
So why do you every week do your best to tear it to bits?
How about looking for the positives and trying to add to these?
Amazing distortion of his comments. And an amazing inability – or refusal – to read what was written and understand it. Think about the slogan ‘MAGA’. If we have to make America great again, that means it’s not great now. Maybe US Democracy has been too good to the likes of Trump and his fans. Meanwhile, people like Prof G are pointing out that nothing is perfect, and that people born on third base are deluding themselves into thinking they hit a triple. That’s not a criticism of the game of baseball nor of the US. It’s stating a simple reality.
The plot of Child Inc Rank vs Parent Inc Rank actually shows the opposite of what blog claims. It shows that poor children rise to the mean in 2 generations, while rich children drop to the mean in 2 generations. Quite an optimistic story!
“Your income is the clearest indicator of how much money your kid will make when they’re 30. ” The graph clearly supports that. There’s nothing about succeeding generations reaching or reverting to the mean. Did you see a different graph?
Yes, look at plot numbers and trace them. For example, 10% rank parents produce 30% rank children, who then produce 45% rank grandchildren, i.e. ‘get wealthy’ in 2 generation. In contrast, 100% rank parents produce 70% rank children then 55% rank grandchildren, i.e. ‘get poorer’ in 2 generations. Reversion to the mean, NOT persistence!
*written while on Molly*
we love the softer side of Scott, more of this please. hiiiiii
I feel that the art of being able to tell one’s ‘story’ without sounding like a egotistical prick is truly an art and a coursework within itself. I’d subscribe, Profesor.
Your. Best. Post. Ever. 👍
Indeed we stand on the shoulders of giants, and make our luck with others. That’s why libertarianism is a failed ideology.
The interview with Kai was great. Real men talk about their feelings and learn to aspire to better things from others.
Keep up the good work. I talk about you so much to my wife you are on a first name basis. 😉
If you want to give back more, perhaps you could help more startups seed seed funds. There’s some good ideas, but too much scarcity mindset out there.
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but parent of all the others”. Cicero.
Beautiful post Scott. Your mom would be so proud of you.
Great post, Scott. Wonderful reminder. Keep up the great work.
One of today’s most prominent poster children of pop culture’s
“Success I-Stories” and for “free market capitalism” is of course this one fellow who was “born in the winner’s circle, but thinks he invented the sport”, Elon Musk. Never mind his ready-made rocket ship at birth, and the tens of thousands of employees serving him…
I believe many/most are tired of hearing about him. But Elon’s comments in this video (he’s discussing his Twitter purchase with fawning corporate moguls) are revealing – First when his brain goes off-line for 10 seconds and his buddy David Sacks has to “wake him up” to put him “on track”, and then Elon tells “what he demands of employees”. Have a listen to just 50 seconds. The myth is punctured. The arrogance can be nauseating…
“…they are trusted, meaning they put the company’s interests before their own, should stay.”
That attitude wouldn’t leave many people employed anywhere in the USA!
(Okay I support the part, “have a positive effect on others”.)
it looks like his employees’ future, and their i-Stories are doomed in subjugation to the whims of this owner-overlord.
https://youtu.be/HE5CTKqWEV0?t=3867
(Ps, please David Sacks, don’t EVER again criticize Biden or anyone over a “brain blip”- LOL!)
Superb, as usual. The stork dropped me on the base path between third and home, with momentum – so a real focus is how to reduce the deficit. The giving back, to create a higher motivation quotient and perhaps alter the scales of good fortune for those on the wrong side of the statistical curve, seems a worthy objective. Maybe one can’t dole out additional seats on the next rocket ship, but perhaps start with putting some more bicycles or Razors into the system.
IDK. We all start off in different places and do the best we can to make our way. Along the way, an indecipherable mix of luck and skill interact. Such essays are of limited value, IMO, and smack of navel-gazing. The concept of “privilege” seems unhelpful.
Talk about a story! This was beautifully written and well said. You nailed it. As Seth Godin recently said in an interview, “We are all hypocrites.” This is true of our “origin” stories. To paraphrase you, “It is difficult to read the label from inside the bottle,” but with a little extra effort, maybe we can begin to acknowledge the threads of truth we’ve pasted over with the rest of our lives, and how we chose to narrate that to others in our lifetimes. Planting the seed is a great first step. Thank you!
Absolutely bull. Poorly written. You certainly make no point or a subject matter about your experience that people could reflect and think about their own life journeys
Speak for yourself.
As a newly minted 50 year old with two young kids, this really resonated, Scott – and also because I’m from Australia, where self-made hyperbole is traditionally kneecapped pretty quickly (Google “tall poppy syndrome”). So much truth in this post, especially around the inability of the privileged (such as myself) to acknowledge their deep institutional advantages. Recognizing that isn’t “woke” or somehow designed to diminish individual achievement, it’s just reality – and a reality so many others don’t get to enjoy. It’s up to all of us to pay it forward.
Inspiring post, rife with truth. Thank you!
Sigh… I’ve had this argument with my self-made colleagues endlessly. It’s like saying someone born in the US claiming to be a self-made English speaker.
I think often about the advantages I was given. Grew up in a community with a great school system. Family could afford to give me extracurricular activities, academic tutoring, music lessons. I got my first big job interview through a third-degree connection that ran through my dad’s’ professional network. I worked hard and made the most of the opportunities, sure, but that’s the point — I didn’t constantly have to make my own opportunities, they were there ready for me. Not sure why some people are too insecure to see the head starts they had in life.
Scott, it’s John from Mr Feelgood. I can’t begin to tell you how vital, and at times terrifying your essays are for me. Terrifying in the way they illuminate my own feelings of inadequacy and missing the moments for growth and action( I’m 58 tomorrow) but hopeful because despite your academic and ambitious prowess, your empathy, sense of purpose and kindness shine through – thank you for doing what you do. I hope and intend to use what you speak of in the most pragmatic and positive way.
Scott, it’s John from Mr Feelgood. I can’t begin to tell you how vital, and at time terrifying your writings are for me. Terrifying in the way they reflect my own feelings of inadequacy and missing the moments for growth and action( I’m 58 tomorrow) but hopeful because despite your academic and ambitious prowess, your empathy and sense of purpose, and kindness shine through – thank you for doing what you do. I hope an intend to use what you speak of in the most pragmatic and positive way.
Another insightful post. Thank you for sharing your story so generously. Just one thing I would clarify is that top decile daughters have teenage pregnancies too- they just have better access to health care that gives them a choice that results in the birth rates in your chart.
A simple way to start paying your debt is by paying your taxes. Read your post from several months ago about spending a lot of money to pay less taxes.
*Touché*
I think about this quite a lot. Maybe it’s where I am in age (52). I don’t think it’s simply post-pandemic reflection but rather an interest in taking stock and showing appreciation for the ones that made me possible before it’s too late. I can’t guarantee I’ll hit all the goals I’d like before they go – who can guarantee that? Novels don’t write themselves, and I do have to earn a living, after all, but I get to do it in a way that doesn’t cause injury or physical distress.
The greatest gift I can give to anyone around me, I think, is to be present, and in doing so, offer the assuredness that things will continue. I’ll keep learning, and they’ll always be with me.
I loved this, and thoroughly enjoy Pivot, as well. Take care.
Great post, Prof G 👏👏👏
Thank you. Your vulnerability is refreshing in a world full of posturing.
The idea of predestination, starts with one comment attributed to Jesus in the New Testament and then by the time we get to Calvin it becomes 100% effective no matter what good or evil works you do. But you do a good job showing that we start off with vastly different odds of an outcome that would be congenial to us. You also do a good job in explicating the argument equivalent to “there but for the grace of God go I”