I agree that if I read the article the way you did, I would find it condescending. I think part of what makes the article interesting is an implied counter-argu

I agree that if I read the article the way you did, I would find it condescending. I think part of what makes the article interesting is an implied counter-argument to this point you made: "If you're like me (and I think most HN'ers are), you continue building stuff in spite of the overwhelming odds. That's the real lesson here. Trying, failing, trying, failing, and doing this over and over, even though expecting a different outcome is technically insanity." So you are doing it, perhaps, for the sheer pleasure and joy of building, experimenting and using your mind. If that is the case, then when you actually make the payday, the article argues you may be robbed of this in the future. In the article, the entrepreneur lost his motivation because it seemed pointless to struggle and build after the payout. Its not just that money didn't make him happy, but that it reduced the prior satisfaction he had in building. Note that this is not inevitable. We know of entrepreneurs (Gates, Jobs, Zuckerberg, Musk etc) who continue to work very hard after they have become wealthy.