The firms we’ve started have generated over a quarter of a billion dollars for investors, employees, and the founders. These firms employ hundreds of people—and neither of my parents went to college, but America wanted their kid to attend. Yet as I detailed in chapter 4, that path out of economic anxiety is getting steeper and narrower. In 2019, the acceptance rate at UCLA was 12%. Put another way, it’s five times as difficult to access the upward mobility that was within reach three decades ago. A rich society should make it easier for the next generation to get ahead, not harder. A
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