Not many 19 year olds will have $34k saved, especially not 16 years ago when Tim was 19. Access to capital is everything and vastly limits people ability to mimic Tim's rise to fortune. I'm betting also that on top of the $34k loan he also then had family backing for loans (guarantors) plus a wealth of knowledge to tap into (Structural engineers, relatives running property trusts etc).
You cannot compare the ability of someone with family money, who should a business failure has limited recourse vs the average punter who would take multiple years to save that money and then have a completely different risk profile should that venture not work out.
In my first year of full-time work I was able to save $10k, and that was greater than 50% of my salary after tax (and I am a few years younger than him too). So to have the same initial capital as Tim it'd have meant I was 21-22. Yes people can make sacrifices and a lot of Gen Y live unsustainable lifestyles while complaining about housing affordability but a reality check is required by the likes of Tim that their situation is quite unique and not applicable to the general population.
