Your story about the tomato entrepreneur reminds me of the ten-year high school class reunion. All the class members were aghast when Bill, the class reprobate, showed up in a limousine. He was wearing a $1000 suit and $500 shoes.
One of his classmates finally got up the nerve to say,
"Bill, we all voted you as the class member least likely to succeed. This is amazing. How did you do it?"
Bill replied, "Well, that's the way I started out. For nearly nine years after graduation, I was unemployed, depressed, and a drunk. One morning I woke up in the gutter and had only a dime in my pocket.
"So I went into a nearby store and bought a pair of shoe laces for 10 cents. Out on the street I was able to sell the laces for 20 cents. So I bought two more pair, which I was able to sell for 40 cents.
"Shortly after that, my aunt died and left me $10 million ..."