I think we need one of theses videos for the really poor kids. The kids who barely finished college due to finances though.
He states his three factors to success are, 'focus, personal conviction, and self belief'.
(Poor kids need to network. Poor kids need to make friends with rich kids. Poor kids can't fail, and take a vacation to unwind. Poor kids, and by poor kids, I mean generational poor. No wealthy grandparents, etc. My biggest mistake was finding upper, middle class kids very shallow. I just couldn't be around them growing up, and even in college. I would cringe when they talked about their problems. I should have held my nose, and try to win their company. I have no reason to lie. They will introduce you to people that have money.)
He said work hard early on.
(Yes, but don't blow a gasket. I had a nervous breakdown in my late twenties. Before that breakdown, I was doing what two people did. I literally felt like nothing couldn't be accomplished. I felt like Superman. Everyone is different, and you will statistically be fine. Just watch it.)
He talks a lot about failing, and why it's not a bad thing.
(That's great, but kids from a poor family only seem to have one big failure in them. It usually involves financing from credit cards. I guess if you know the right financiers, networked, or have family money failing/taking risk is not financial suicide, or living in a box somewhere. Poor kids have the real possibility of ending up homeless if they fail. There just a different mindset when you come from nothing.)
"Successful people impact the world" I believe he said, 'Make the world a better place.'
(That might be true for a handful, but let's get real; it's about making a lot of money. It's about the paper.
I don't like it, but let's not romanize it--it's about making money. The financially successful don't like to admit it.
And if you don't make money in life--there are more important things than narcisstically making a lot of money. Being a good, moral person goes a long way. Can attract the right girlfriend/boyfriend. It's not a crime to think like Jesus did. It might talk you a long way?)
I think the best advice he gave was sticking with what you truly believe in. Yes--there's Twitter, and other examples, but I believe it's good advice. Go against the crowd caught my attention.
If YC is still funding founders after 10-14 failures; I'm very impressed with the organization.