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>Any time you hear, "taking the most risk" replace it with "have the most privilege and resources." This is absurd and adolescent. I know people who are extre
by aminok 10y ago
>Any time you hear, "taking the most risk" replace it with "have the most privilege and resources."
This is absurd and adolescent.
I know people who are extremely privileged, and don't make any sacrifices or take any risks, just so they can avoid discomfort, and I know people with very few resources, who sacrifice and suffer in order to start companies. Being an entrepreneur is a risky venture, and hard on one's health and wealth, and many lose it all in the process.
Shame on the author for making such a ridiculous blanket characterization about entrepreneurs that discounts their sacrifice, in the name of brain-dead socialist ideology.
- AbrahamParangi 10y ago> This is absurd and adolescent. That's an awfully emotional (dare I say, adolescent) way of saying "I disagree, here's why". While I may not exactly agree with the author's position, I think it's fair to recognize the uncomfortable truth that in most startups, rewards for success are distributed according to a power law distribution. Taking it a step further, I strongly suspect that it is the financial innumeracy of many engineers, designers, and other hard-working early stage employees that make the economics of many startup businesses possible.
- aminok 10y agoI don't see what's emotional about it. I view the assertion that being a risk-taker in the startup world is synonymous with being privileged as absurd and adolescent. I also explained why I think the notion is offensive and worthy of being condemned. > I think it's fair to recognize the uncomfortable truth that in most startups, rewards for success are distributed according to a power law distribution. Can you elaborate on this a bit? I'm not sure I understand what exactly you mean by this.
- bootload 10y ago" I view the assertion that being a risk-taker in the startup world is synonymous with being privileged as absurd and adolescent." Just being in the position to ^take risk^, is privilege itself.
- aminok 10y agoIt does not automatically mean one is more privileged than those who choose to work for startups, which is what the article implies.
- crawfordcomeaux 10y agoWould you agree it does often mean that? More specifically, for what percentage of startups would you consider it fair to say?
- aminok 10y agoI have no idea, but a statistical correlation does not justify the blanket characterization made by the article, where "risk-taker" is essentially held as a synonym for "privileged".
- crawfordcomeaux 10y agoWhat's the harm?
- aminok 10y agoIt diminishes the accomplishments of entrepreneurs, and the sacrifices they've made. If they only have large equity stakes in the companies they founded because they're "privileged" it casts them as undeserving of the wealth they acquired.
- crawfordcomeaux 10y agoOk. And what's the harm in that?
- aminok 10y agoIsn't it self-evident? It harms their standing and reputation, in being cast as in possession of wealth they are not morally entitled to. It's defamation.
- awinder 10y ago"Shame on the author for making such a ridiculous blanket characterization about entrepreneurs that discounts their sacrifice, in the name of brain-dead socialist ideology." What part of that was not a call to emotion?
- aminok 10y agoYes I admit that part conveys emotion, but that's not the part the parent commenter was citing. I think emotion has its uses, like defending entire classes of people from being unfairly denigrated by simplistic blanket characterizations.
- crdoconnor 10y ago>I view the assertion that being a risk-taker in the startup world is synonymous with being privileged as absurd and adolescent. http://www.andrewoswald.com/docs/entrepre.pdf http://www.andrewoswald.com/docs/entrepre.pdf "The factors that affect the supply of entrepreneurs are important but poorly understood. We study a sample of individuals who choose either to be employees or to run their own businesses. Four conclusions emerge. First, consistent with the existence of borrowing constraints on potential entrepreneurs, we find that the probability of self-employment depends markedly upon whether the individual ever received an inheritance or gift. Second, when directly questioned in interview surveys, potential entrepreneurs say that raising capital is their principal problem. Third, consistent with our theoretical framework's predictions, the self-employed have higher levels of job and life satisfaction than employees. Fourth, childhood personality measurements and psychological test scores are of almost no help in predicting who runs their own business later in life. It is access to start-up capital that matters." Further into the study: "Attitude to risk is not the central characteristic that determines who becomes an entrepreneur" tl;dr "adolescent" study demonstrates risk is a convenient narrative that justifies why some people can have nice things and others can't. Access to capital is what counts.
- aminok 10y agoA statistical correlation does not justify a blanket characterization. Suggestions to the contrary are adolescent and absurd.
- erik14th 10y agoDude, you mad. It doesn't mean there is no risk or no effort on the entrepreneur's part, just that most people doesn't even have the privilege of taking that risk.