There's an interesting pattern emerging in how top venture firms scout for founders. It's not always about the Ivy League credentials or the perfectly polished pitch deck. Some of the most successful VCs are gravitating toward founders who've weathered real hardship—the kind that builds mental toughness and unconventional problem-solving.

Why? Because adversity often creates founders who refuse to quit. They've already overcome significant obstacles before they ever launched their startup. They understand scarcity, resilience, and the grit needed to survive market downturns.

This shift challenges the traditional narrative. The narrative that said you need the "right" background, connections, and smooth upbringing to build a billion-dollar company. Instead, what VCs are increasingly recognizing is that founders with difficult personal histories often bring something institutional backgrounds can't buy: genuine grit and authentic problem-solving born from necessity.

It's worth asking: does this signal a real change in how the startup ecosystem evaluates potential, or is it just the latest trend in founder mythology? Either way, it's reshaping who gets funded and why.