I started reading PG's writings in 2001 on the advice of my computer science teacher in high school. That was pre-ycombinator. I read his stuff because it was really interesting and spoke to me (while it doesn't have the same valence it once did for me, at the time I really loved his article on nerds).

It has been quite the ride to see this random dude whose work I started reading become a global juggernaut.