Shame

By editor on January 28, 2018 — 1 min read

I went to a very good high school, the rich high school — not the high school I should’ve gone to. I would be so ashamed that I worked at Burger King. At some point, there was this release moment where it was just, this is my life. I can’t do anything about it. This is what it is right now. I had a sense that I could figure some stuff out later, but I didn’t really know. So I just accepted it. The minute I accepted it, I wasn’t ashamed of it. When I wasn’t ashamed, I could start to be inside my head, like, “What really matters?”

The Canadian government didn’t want the Rodney King riots, so I was able to take all of my dad’s rejection letters and call every single one, and one of them gave me a job. I worked at this well-known telecommunications startup in Ottawa. They had a really burgeoning tech scene at the time.

I worked at this organization that was run by this really iconic guy, Terry Matthews. And he was a “billionaire.” I was like, what the fuck is that word?! I didn’t even know a fucking “thousand-aire.” What is a billionaire?!

[Terry] was risk-on. He was so dynamic, on the businesses he started and how he viewed his place in the world. I was enthralled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMotykw0SIk (4:20)

Posted in: Life

Editor's Note

These are Chamath Palihapitiya's words. They are probably some of the best thoughts on VC, business, and life, but were scattered around the Internet. They live now in this archive.