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> But two consecutive failed startups is probably not better than six years at a great company... Only if you're talking about the quality of the experience, a

by staunch 17y ago

> But two consecutive failed startups is probably not better than six years at a great company... Only if you're talking about the quality of the experience, and even that's entirely subjective. If the goal is financial independence there's no comparison. Your shot at making FU money working for someone else is essentially zero. As a founder your shot at achieving financial independence is considerable, and making FU money is at least a possibility.

tptacek 17y ago
This has been disproven time and time again. It's flat out wrong. You have a far better chance of becoming a millionare by careful career and money management than you do in entrepreneurship. Your odds of making "FU money" are so remote that it is irrational to bank your career on it. Remember, during all the time that you're chasing the "FU money" (that you again are never going to see), you are also not contributing significantly to your retirement. There are plenty of reasons to start companies, but money isn't a great one.
- pg 17y ago
  If you phrased it "the average person has a far better chance of becoming a millionare by careful career and money management" I'd have agreed with you. The average person is not suited to starting a startup. But for the 1% of people who are suited to it-- the ones sufficiently smart and determined-- the odds are actually reasonably good. I'm not sure what you mean about it having been disproven that starting a startup is a bad way to make money. Presumably the same sort of statistical evidence that would prove that randomly selected people can't do anything hard. But what matters to someone asking this question is not whether random people could do it, but whether they could, and if the right sort of person is asking the question, the answer becomes very different. If the young Bill Gates is asking the question, the odds of making FU money are close to 100%. (Microsoft was already doing well before they got lucky with the DOS deal.)

by staunch 17y ago

tptacek 17y ago

This has been disproven time and time again. It's flat out wrong. You have a far better chance of becoming a millionare by careful career and money management than you do in entrepreneurship. Your odds of making "FU money" are so remote that it is irrational to bank your career on it. Remember, during all the time that you're chasing the "FU money" (that you again are never going to see), you are also not contributing significantly to your retirement. There are plenty of reasons to start companies, but money isn't a great one.

pg 17y ago
If you phrased it "the average person has a far better chance of becoming a millionare by careful career and money management" I'd have agreed with you. The average person is not suited to starting a startup. But for the 1% of people who are suited to it-- the ones sufficiently smart and determined-- the odds are actually reasonably good. I'm not sure what you mean about it having been disproven that starting a startup is a bad way to make money. Presumably the same sort of statistical evidence that would prove that randomly selected people can't do anything hard. But what matters to someone asking this question is not whether random people could do it, but whether they could, and if the right sort of person is asking the question, the answer becomes very different. If the young Bill Gates is asking the question, the odds of making FU money are close to 100%. (Microsoft was already doing well before they got lucky with the DOS deal.)