New ask Hacker News story: How did Sam Altman fail upward so well?

How did Sam Altman fail upward so well?
33 by VirusNewbie | 5 comments on Hacker News.
I'm constantly surprised by the fact that Sam Altman is the one in charge of OpenAI. As far as I know, he dropped out of college to start a company that folded, ended up advising companies at YCombinator, Paul G liked him, and he just sort of made lots of connections. Then he became CEO of Open AI? I'm likely missing a step, right? Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's a moron or anything, but it's fascinating to me that he doesn't have ANY of the following things that I'd assume makes one qualified: * Published AI research * Sold a company * Worked at a Unicorn or top tech company * Reputation in OSS as a hacker/builder Surely there's more to the story? Do people who he has advised at YCombinator all agree he's brilliant and insightful? What am I missing?

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