Find Your People

Private vs. Public School, Networks, and Inequality

• Many tie “find your people” to how the rich get richer: elite schools concentrate ambitious peers, supportive families, and powerful networks.
• Several note stark outcome gaps between friends from elite vs. average/poor schools; connections often matter more than raw competence.
• Others push back: elite tracks can feel coercive and anxiety‑inducing, with students funneled into high‑prestige careers they don’t actually want.
• Some argue both extremes (very poor schools vs. hyper‑elite ones) are harmful; the ideal is decent schools plus broad exposure beyond school.
• Multiple comments emphasize situating the speech in its context: a speaker educated at top private institutions advising similarly privileged graduates.

Life Tracks, Agency, and Graduation Advice

• The “subway tracks end here” metaphor resonated strongly: schooling is structured; adult life is not. Many wish they’d heard this earlier than graduation.
• Others note that modern society immediately offers new “tracks”: FAANG ladders, elite grad programs, finance careers, and even YC itself.
• There’s debate over whether advice from the 1990s applies to today’s more indebted, competitive, and precarious job market. Some call the speech optimistic or tone‑deaf; others argue every generation feels that way.

Limits and Pitfalls of “Find Your People”

• Several readers feel alienated: if you’re “too weird,” chronically drifting across interests, or traumatized, “your people” may never coalesce.
• Mental‑health‑struggling and neuro‑atypical commenters worry this advice is “for other people”; some discuss trying instead to become happy while lonely.
• Others stress the flip side: you often must let go of relationships (including parents’ expectations) that hold you back.

Ambition, Risk, and Startup Culture

• The framing explicitly targets grads who want ambitious plans but lack them. Enthusiasts say “take swings” early; even failed startups can be valuable signal.
• Critics highlight survivorship bias and the downside of “be immune to rejection”: it can also fuel incompetent or harmful founders.
• Several note networking with ambitious peers can raise one’s own expectations and trajectory—sometimes dramatically.

Parenting, Culture, and Imposed Tracks

• Asian and immigrant commenters describe rigid “doctor/lawyer” tracks and children as status symbols, leading to low agency and strained relationships.
• Others contrast this with parental apathy; both over‑control and under‑guidance are seen as damaging.

Work, Identity, and Opting Out

• Some question the premise that one “has to” optimize across thousands of jobs; they cite friends who deliberately work less and prioritize art, leisure, or “lying flat.”
• There’s discussion of stable but unfulfilling office tracks vs. riskier entrepreneurial paths, with no consensus on which leads to a better life.