I'm gonna assume that you are not an immigrant that has worked in a family business. Because you don't inherit the family business.
I worked in the plywood plant where my dad worked when I turned 16 and I worked in all of his side businesses. My uncle that owns an electrical business put my cousins to work when they were 13. My uncle that owns a chain of retail stores put my cousins to work starting at that age, too.
You don't inherit a family business if you grew up in an immigrant family. And it's definitely not easy. It's hard work from the day you are born.
its much easier to build a $4 mil/yr business into a $40 mil/yr business, than it is you build one from 0 to $4mil.
Those people that inherit their parents business, may have worked their ass off since they were young, but they start off ahead off the curve, simply due to the ground work laid down by their parents.
And he was a stockboy at the business when it was being built from $0 to $X million.
How is that any different than Paul Graham taking support calls at ViaWeb or Joel Spolsky putting up blinds at Fog Creek? In a family business, everyone does what it takes to make it successful. They are not inheriting the business. It is their business even if they are not listed as co-founders in the legal papers.
Because Paul Graham and Joel Spolsky were actually the ones running the business while they did those extra things like take support calls/put up blinds.
I actually am an immigrant (to at least 2 different countries) and coincidentally helped my father start a business. But I don't traffic in generalities. I'm sure you worked hard, but it's still anecdotal.
I worked in the plywood plant where my dad worked when I turned 16 and I worked in all of his side businesses. My uncle that owns an electrical business put my cousins to work when they were 13. My uncle that owns a chain of retail stores put my cousins to work starting at that age, too.
You don't inherit a family business if you grew up in an immigrant family. And it's definitely not easy. It's hard work from the day you are born.