If you are so smart, why aren’t you rich?

During the Internet boom, we collectively held an underlying assumption that getting rich was a noble pursuit. It was the “best” thing anyone could do. If you were smart then you were rich, or well on your way to becoming rich. If you weren’t rich or at least well on your way, you simply were not very smart.

The Internet culture, at least during the boom years, valued money – which they strongly correlated to intelligence, much more highly than previous generations. By Internet boom standards, Bill Gates was a greater person than Ghandi, Marc Andreesson was certainly cooler than Nelson Mandela, and a cog in the wheel almost killing themselves at some Internet startup for fame, fortune and stock options outranked both the Pope and Dalai Lama!

Certainly in my father's generation, entrepreneurship was not highly valued as it was during the boom or even today. Making money for money’s sake was considered crass and even uncouth. Further back, the idea that a “gentlemen” would engage in any form of commerce was considered absurd. “Nobles” and “Merchants” were entirely different classes. Merchants certainly were not noble – they were closer to today’s image of used car salesmen. Anyone who had recently made a fortune was considered “nouveau rich” and looked down upon. Today, our Nobles are the like of Bill Gates and Larry Ellison.

There is something to the notion of smart=rich=good. If you make money honestly, you have presumably added value somewhere and benefited people. If you are smart enough to make a lot of money, you have benefited a lot of people – perhaps humankind as a whole. You might even be close to sainthood if successful enough! Of course counterexamples exist, but especially in technology this is a strong argument. For example, one of my many uncles has made a medium sized fortune in medical technology. His work has benefited many people and even extended and saved people’s lives. He is smarter and cooler than those guys who recently annoyed many of us while running for president of the US!

During the Internet boom years, if you were smart, you were rich or well on your way to riches. End of story.

Today all the buzz is about “life balance” and being happy. We no longer assume massive financial success will necessarily make us happy or better people. Companies hire consultants to give seminars and advice on life balance. Spending seven days straight in the office and catching naps under your desk is no longer in vogue. You can be smart and happy without massive wealth.

We valued money during the Internet boom because there was a lot floating around and riches seemed within grasp of everyone. Now we value happiness more highly as it seems within grasp for everyone.

Personally I did well during the Internet boom years, although I didn’t join any startups as an employee. I was a consultant. I worked hard and I played hard. I didn’t get rich monetarily but have rich memories – a month trekking in Nepal, a summer fly fishing obsessively in Maine, two years working my butt off in Hong Kong on a great expense account (this one did pay!), etc.

I left getting rich for later, which is still in my plans. Who knows, we may have more control over money than our happiness?

Here’s hoping to my eventual sainthood!