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Seems like selection bias. Anecdata, but most entrepreneurs I've ever met were regular middle class joes with the drive to do the journey. Even most YC founders

Seems like selection bias. Anecdata, but most entrepreneurs I've ever met were regular middle class joes with the drive to do the journey. Even most YC founders, as far as I can tell, are not exactly Winklevosses, they're just regular people who are in a privileged position to be able to take a couple of years off and live on savings or very meager early stage funding to test if their business model will work.

smogcutter 9y ago
The regular middle class joes you know who took "A couple years off to live on savings" are not, in fact, middle class joes.
- BadassFractal 9y ago
  Work a tech job for 5-10 years saving money for when you quit, avoid expensive relationships / having dependents or have a spouse who can support you, save enough to live on ramen in the middle of nowhere for a couple of years with a bunch of roommates. Is that really Andrew Carnegie level of wealth? Many of us have done exactly that, it just takes years of planning and being fortunate enough not to have severe medical conditions or loves ones you need to take care of with all of your finances. Again, most people would much rather tell themselves that the reason why they're not entrepreneurs is because they're not Bill Gates rich, rather than making the sacrifices most entrepreneurs have to make to get things going.
  - olliej 9y ago
    I think the problem is that if you work a tech job for 5-10 years you are way out of the middle class. Middle class is generally 50-100k/year. 5-10 years of experience in tech should put you well past 100... Your idea of "saving money for when you quit" doesn't work for middle class as the amount you save is not enough for "living on ramen for a few years" -- it will likely not be enough to even pay rent.
    - BadassFractal 9y ago
      Ok, so what percentile are we talking about here? The top 30% ? Seems like the whole conversation is around where exactly to plant that flag.
      - olliej 9y ago
        Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United... If you were earning more than 100k you were in the top 7% (in 2014) More than 75k puts you in the top 13% or there abouts. Tech is wealthy
        BadassFractal 9y ago
        Really depends on where you live, though. If you make 75k-100k in the Bay Area, you're far from wealthy, I believe poverty line was 100k for a family of 4 there as of this year. 100k in Dallas is a different conversation though.
- 0xcde4c3db 9y ago
  Put another way, the definitions of middle-class that encompass such people are ones that separate them from the regular joe, limiting the "middle" class to the top 30% or so of the income distribution rather than placing them at the median.
  - BadassFractal 9y ago
    That's fair. If we want to say that the top 30% are all "rich kids" as per the title of the article, then so be it.
  - smogcutter 9y ago
    Yes, this is what I meant but better stated.
parenthephobia 9y ago
> they're just regular people who are in a privileged position Literally the argument the article is making!

smogcutter 9y ago

The regular middle class joes you know who took "A couple years off to live on savings" are not, in fact, middle class joes.

BadassFractal 9y ago
Work a tech job for 5-10 years saving money for when you quit, avoid expensive relationships / having dependents or have a spouse who can support you, save enough to live on ramen in the middle of nowhere for a couple of years with a bunch of roommates. Is that really Andrew Carnegie level of wealth? Many of us have done exactly that, it just takes years of planning and being fortunate enough not to have severe medical conditions or loves ones you need to take care of with all of your finances. Again, most people would much rather tell themselves that the reason why they're not entrepreneurs is because they're not Bill Gates rich, rather than making the sacrifices most entrepreneurs have to make to get things going.
- olliej 9y ago
  I think the problem is that if you work a tech job for 5-10 years you are way out of the middle class. Middle class is generally 50-100k/year. 5-10 years of experience in tech should put you well past 100... Your idea of "saving money for when you quit" doesn't work for middle class as the amount you save is not enough for "living on ramen for a few years" -- it will likely not be enough to even pay rent.
  - BadassFractal 9y ago
    Ok, so what percentile are we talking about here? The top 30% ? Seems like the whole conversation is around where exactly to plant that flag.
    - olliej 9y ago
      Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Household_income_in_the_United... If you were earning more than 100k you were in the top 7% (in 2014) More than 75k puts you in the top 13% or there abouts. Tech is wealthy
      - BadassFractal 9y ago
        Really depends on where you live, though. If you make 75k-100k in the Bay Area, you're far from wealthy, I believe poverty line was 100k for a family of 4 there as of this year. 100k in Dallas is a different conversation though.
0xcde4c3db 9y ago
Put another way, the definitions of middle-class that encompass such people are ones that separate them from the regular joe, limiting the "middle" class to the top 30% or so of the income distribution rather than placing them at the median.
- BadassFractal 9y ago
  That's fair. If we want to say that the top 30% are all "rich kids" as per the title of the article, then so be it.
- smogcutter 9y ago
  Yes, this is what I meant but better stated.

parenthephobia 9y ago

> they're just regular people who are in a privileged position Literally the argument the article is making!