I had lunch today with a famous entrepreneur, who has started a few companies that have gone public. Throughout the meal, he struck me as very honest and genuine.

He says he will giving away most of his money to charities. He is doing a fair amount of angel investing right now, with the hopes of giving back to the start-up community.

He says that one of the best days happened when an employee from one of his companies thanked him for allowing him to be able to pay off his mortgage and have enough college funds for his children.

He talked about how his wife doesn’t care for money and that he loves entrepreneurship because it is a great way to provide jobs for people. In other words, he doesn’t make career choices “for the money.”

He talked about the very dark days at his first start-up, when the company struggled mightily and he had to purge the management team and pivot the product. He thinks that the people who say how evident success was at a start-up’s beginning are revising history.

He marveled at how well-adjusted his children are, and how he and his wife have been blessed with good health and grandchildren, and that many of his cousins live in the area. “What more could I ask for?” he asked, with a smile.

It was a fun lunch. There was a lot of wisdom and humility in this person. I learned a ton.