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> I don't think there's any reason it needs to stay that way There is actually a very good reason, namely that acquiring knowledge, skills, wisdom, etc. is at

> I don't think there's any reason it needs to stay that way There is actually a very good reason, namely that acquiring knowledge, skills, wisdom, etc. is at odds with acquiring assessment signals. The only way to become a good entrepreneur is to basically become unemployable.

arkis22 9y ago
I don't think they're at odds. They are definitely not 100% overlapping though. I would disagree that the only way to become a good entrepreneur is to become unemployable. The best way is, as you say, to have knowledge and skill to create a useful product. Then, having a market that allows you to easily get paid for your work helps. I mentioned high school specifically because I know that I would have loved something interesting to work on. It's a perfect time to work on skills rather than assessment signals. Lots of kids don't even bother with the assessment signals...
- Alex3917 9y ago
  > The best way is, as you say, to have knowledge and skill to create a useful product. Sure. Once you've actually created a product that's useful, or at least impressive from a technical and/or design perspective, then you're easily employable at that point. But for most people there is still going to be a several year gap between when they start focusing on acquiring those skills and when they've actually built something impressive enough to function as its own signal.
  - kafquaesque 9y ago
    I have seen this over and over with people that have eventually built incredible products or services. The company/product/service etc. can work as a signal eventually. An “entrepreneur” is a lot like a scientific researcher. It isn’t until after the experiment has been shown to work that your risk is then rewarded. The people with high agency that have a fair amount of confidence in their abilities and don’t view themselves as a statistic tend to be able to weather this period the best emotionally.
deleted 9y ago
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arkis22 9y ago

I don't think they're at odds. They are definitely not 100% overlapping though. I would disagree that the only way to become a good entrepreneur is to become unemployable. The best way is, as you say, to have knowledge and skill to create a useful product. Then, having a market that allows you to easily get paid for your work helps. I mentioned high school specifically because I know that I would have loved something interesting to work on. It's a perfect time to work on skills rather than assessment signals. Lots of kids don't even bother with the assessment signals...

Alex3917 9y ago
> The best way is, as you say, to have knowledge and skill to create a useful product. Sure. Once you've actually created a product that's useful, or at least impressive from a technical and/or design perspective, then you're easily employable at that point. But for most people there is still going to be a several year gap between when they start focusing on acquiring those skills and when they've actually built something impressive enough to function as its own signal.
- kafquaesque 9y ago
  I have seen this over and over with people that have eventually built incredible products or services. The company/product/service etc. can work as a signal eventually. An “entrepreneur” is a lot like a scientific researcher. It isn’t until after the experiment has been shown to work that your risk is then rewarded. The people with high agency that have a fair amount of confidence in their abilities and don’t view themselves as a statistic tend to be able to weather this period the best emotionally.

deleted 9y ago

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