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Around 2000, highest earning occupations are by far in finance. Some entrepreneurs will make more, but when comparing 10 smart people in finance and 10 entrepre

by jarek 16y ago

Around 2000, highest earning occupations are by far in finance. Some entrepreneurs will make more, but when comparing 10 smart people in finance and 10 entrepreneurs, the average earnings aren't even close. Prestigious depends very heavily on who you ask. I don't think you can come up with one answer even 50% of a population would agree on today.

nostrademons 16y ago
Controlling for ability? Entrepreneurship has no barrier to entry the way finance does; there's no job application to say "You didn't go to an Ivy League college, so no job for you". So if you take ten random entrepreneurs and compare them to 10 smart people in finance, of course the average earnings won't be close. I suspect that if you limited your applicant pool - say, "10 people who could get into YC" or "10 people who scored perfects on the SATs", the returns for entrepreneurship vs. finance would be much more even. I'm not sure entrepreneurs would come out ahead, but you're far more likely to catch the Herokus and Reddits and less likely to catch the folks who start a restaurant or a RoR CRUDscreen with no plan for monetization.
- jarek 16y ago
  Sorry - that should have read "10 smart people in finance and 10 smart entrepreneurs". I was being careful to stay gender-impartial and left a crucial word out as a result... I must admit being a bit out of my depth regarding U.S. finance hiring. In Canada, Ivy or equivalent is not required, though of course it's not going to hurt. As far as I can see, it's one of the better fields when it comes to recognizing and rewarding hard work and ability and motivation (provided a baseline social/IQ ability). The luck component is still pretty important, but nevertheless much less so than in entrepreneurship. Unfortunately neither of us have data here. I can't go digging for mine right now, which is a bit of a shame as I would like to continue this discussion. Some other time?

by jarek 16y ago

nostrademons 16y ago

Controlling for ability? Entrepreneurship has no barrier to entry the way finance does; there's no job application to say "You didn't go to an Ivy League college, so no job for you". So if you take ten random entrepreneurs and compare them to 10 smart people in finance, of course the average earnings won't be close. I suspect that if you limited your applicant pool - say, "10 people who could get into YC" or "10 people who scored perfects on the SATs", the returns for entrepreneurship vs. finance would be much more even. I'm not sure entrepreneurs would come out ahead, but you're far more likely to catch the Herokus and Reddits and less likely to catch the folks who start a restaurant or a RoR CRUDscreen with no plan for monetization.

jarek 16y ago
Sorry - that should have read "10 smart people in finance and 10 smart entrepreneurs". I was being careful to stay gender-impartial and left a crucial word out as a result... I must admit being a bit out of my depth regarding U.S. finance hiring. In Canada, Ivy or equivalent is not required, though of course it's not going to hurt. As far as I can see, it's one of the better fields when it comes to recognizing and rewarding hard work and ability and motivation (provided a baseline social/IQ ability). The luck component is still pretty important, but nevertheless much less so than in entrepreneurship. Unfortunately neither of us have data here. I can't go digging for mine right now, which is a bit of a shame as I would like to continue this discussion. Some other time?