The author says he's clever, and I believe him. It's easy to believe, because I've heard this story a hundred times before.
I grew up with lots of clever people, met through math and science competitions and camps. Easily 80% of them, maybe 90%, have gone off to FAANG, investment banks, or consulting firms, and had the exact same fate. Nothing was stopping them from continuing to tinker with ideas. None of them would have gone hungry that way. They made a choice -- a perfectly fine, rational one -- but let no one say the result was surprising.
I grew up with lots of clever people, met through math and science competitions and camps. Easily 80% of them, maybe 90%, have gone off to FAANG, investment banks, or consulting firms, and had the exact same fate. Nothing was stopping them from continuing to tinker with ideas. None of them would have gone hungry that way. They made a choice -- a perfectly fine, rational one -- but let no one say the result was surprising.