"Microsoft and Oracle, for example, both needed 10 years of incredibly work to get to their IPOs"
Most people forget than Microsoft never tried to get to IPO. They were FORCED to go public when their ESOP reached 500 employees. Imagine that, earning revenue and going public against your wishes when you already have enough cash.
When I was very young, I thought "well, I'll start a business, retire early, and enjoy my life." Now I have so many ideas that I could split into ten of me and still not see them all come to fruition. I guess I'm destined to be such a serial entrepreneur, for better or for worse.
The best line of the post: "Money, but not just 'I can buy a fancier cashmere car cover' kind of thing - just as often I think it's money as a way to keep score"
...to most of the enterprising people I know as well...b/c he's just very visible. I bet if some of the richest people in history blogged, a lot of people would feel that way towards a good percentage of them too.
Most people forget than Microsoft never tried to get to IPO. They were FORCED to go public when their ESOP reached 500 employees. Imagine that, earning revenue and going public against your wishes when you already have enough cash.