The new privilege: working from home

Hey Reader,

Warren Buffet talks about how he won the “ovarian lottery”. He was born:

• White
• In the United States
• To successful parents
• At a time where his unique skill of being world-class at reading financial statements and investing was highly valued.

He says were he born in a different country, different circumstances, or a different time, he'd have a completely different life.

Privilege is an important subject and one that is growing more common to discuss.

But there's a new kind of privilege that’s completely different from what we've experienced before.

Here’s how work used to be divided:

• White-collar vs blue-collar
• Service vs professional
• High-paying vs low-paying
• Career vs temporary

But this new privilege cuts a new line through all of that. The new privilege is if your job can be done from home.

The new privilege: working from home

Conventional wisdom would say becoming a doctor or dentist is a great career to pursue. It pays well, you can own your own practice, and those services will always be in need!

But during the pandemic, dentists weren’t earning any money. Their job had to be done in person and many offices had to be completely shut down.

You'd think a doctor's job would be secure in a global pandemic, but with all elective surgeries canceled or postponed, a significant number of healthcare workers who didn’t specialize in something COVID-19 related were furloughed or laid off.

Barbers, actors, masseuses, professional athletes, etc. were all unable to work for a period of time and had to find new ways of doing their jobs.

There wasn't a master plan

When the pandemic happened, I found myself privileged again. Not only could I do my job from home (and I already was), but I worked in an industry that grew as a result of the pandemic forcing businesses online.

But it wasn't from any master plan. I didn't think, "I'd like to start a software company so I can work remotely because in the next global pandemic that will be crucial."

No, I chose software because it interested me. I chose to work remotely because I wanted to travel. While I worked incredibly hard to become successful in my chosen field, it's purely luck that this field has thrived because of the circumstances.

That's privilege.

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TWITTER THREAD

Could SpaceX become one of the biggest companies of all time?

Austen Allred thinks so. On Twitter, he shared a compelling thread on why he thinks SpaceX may possibly become the biggest company in the world.

Aside from reusing rockets for the 15th time, and driving down prices of launches to zero, their satellite internet company, Starlink, went from $0 to $1B in annual recurring revenue in under 2 years. To compare, he showed a list of how long it took other well-known companies to reach their first billion dollars:

Here’s the rest of the story:

​View Twitter thread »​

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TWITTER THREAD

Creating a billion-dollar fortune in their 30s without VC

Speaking of billion-dollar fortunes, Andrew Wilkinson and Chris Sparling created theirs in their thirties without ever taking VC money.

Their holding company, Tiny, announced its IPO with a near $1 billion valuation, and the first employee shared a thread with what he learned. It’s a good read:

​View Twitter thread »​

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Hope you have a fantastic Tuesday!

—Nathan