Stop Needing Things | Gavin Holtzapple

Image: Ekko from LoL; a boy who tries indefinetly until he succeeds.

If you have big dreams, I recommend not depending on institutions as requirements to achieve your goals:

"I need to get into Stanford; they have the best AI classes."

"I need to get into YC so I can grow my network."

"I need to get into OpenAI so I can work on AI."

These institutions don't want you because you need them.

There are people out there who don't need anything to become successful. People who change the world can do it even if nobody accepts them anywhere.

Give them a laptop, and that's all they need. Break their arm, deport them, break into their car and steal their money, give them an autoimmune disease, steal their idea—they'll still win.

Brian Chesky kept Airbnb alive by selling $30,000 of cereal when he ran out of cash. That's why Y Combinator funded him. He's a 'cockroach': someone who will 'survive a nuclear winter'. He didn't need an accelerator to tell him he could build a company; he was building it anyway.

Be this kind of person.

People who "need" institutions to support them are probably making excuses.

Eventually, after a couple of years of demonstrating these qualities, you'll magically discover that you no longer need to apply to institutions. They reach out to you instead. When people discover that you will succeed no matter what, why wouldn't they want to invest in you or hire you?

So, I urge you, readers, if you have big dreams, to stop hoping that Stanford accepts you. Stop hoping the job interview went well. Stop hoping that someone likes you. If everyone and everywhere rejects you, then do it yourself. You don't need other people to change the world.