I have a couple problems with the article-- the first is that the whole tale sounds at least quasi-fictional. Their eldest son started working professionally at *12*? In *California*? And he skipped high school too? In California you must attend school at least until 16, and can stop then only if you have graduated from High School. So let's say he was claimed to be "home schooled." How did he get a permit to work at 12, when the minimum legal work age in the state is 14? OK, let's say he worked under the table... but for a corporate branding company in SF? It really smacks of BS.
Secondly, when talking about CEOs, he mentioned VCs being "disappointed" if they don't see an F or two on a CEO's college transcript. Are you kidding me? There's not a VC in the world who checks a CEO's college transcripts.
The notions of personal responsibility and generosity (the "be a good person parts") I agree with, but even then the examples are difficult to relate to as the context is an extremely affluent environment (big house, lots of travel, office at the Embarcadero, etc). Don't "let" your kid get an average job? I think this is terrible advice! Working retail or service is a fantastic way to learn to deal with all sorts of people, and to get some perspective on how most people live their lives, and how hard they're forced to work just to make ends meet.
I also somewhat agree that success is correlated to not being satisfied with the status quo-- but my thoughts are more in the vein of The Millionaire Next Door-- the real wealthy in America are frugal and in fact, parental monetary support negatively correlates with success; That is to say, those who aren't given financial life support by their parents are forced to go out and succeed for themselves.