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I’m a former VC-backed founder and I liked the post, but this part made me cringe: > To be ambitious often means things like wanting to do a Ph.D, become a med

I’m a former VC-backed founder and I liked the post, but this part made me cringe: > To be ambitious often means things like wanting to do a Ph.D, become a medical doctor or an astronaut. Why should it be considered ambitious to do a PhD or become a medical doctor. Those are just slogs that most people can get through if they stick it out... Something is very wrong with our cultural preconceptions around ambition. It’s like real ambition is now so taboo we can’t even talk about it or something... Can anybody explain it to me like I’m 5yo?

jackpirate 6y ago
Those are just slogs that most people can get through if they stick it out... Most adults in the US do not even have a college degree. For their children, aspiring to be a doctor would be incredibly ambitious and an amazing accomplishment. Acknowledging that these high-prestige professions are very difficult for certain members of society to get into does not make talking about your ambitions "taboo", and I frankly find your comment incredibly out of touch with the average person.
- bjornsing 6y ago
  Yea, sorry, I’m in Sweden so may have a different perspective. But you must realize that if a child says “I’m going to start a successful VC-backed company” then that’s a lot more ambitious than saying “I’m gonna go to medical school”, right? (At least if we by more ambitious mean “has a lower probability of success”.)
- czbond 6y ago
  OP is simply meaning the steps are laid out for those disciplines - and one must follow the path. It just takes the time and effort and one can progress there. Whereas entrepreneurship is finding the path, along with much more - and failure is still a high chance.
float4 6y ago
> It’s like real ambition is now so taboo we can’t even talk about it Both in the times of the Romans and in the middle ages ambition wouldn't often be talked about since it was seen as a negative thing. That's not what you meant of course, but I always find it funny how people today seem to think that ambition has always been a virtuous trait or something.
filleduchaos 6y ago
Of course, when one actually takes that entire part in context it's clear what the author means: > To be ambitious often means things like wanting to do a Ph.D, become a medical doctor or an astronaut. On that scale, it's not really about being better at something you're doing (though it partially is), but joining a new game where it's supposedly harder.
- bjornsing 6y ago
  Is it? Do people think it’s harder to do a PhD or get through medical school than it is to succeed with a VC-backed startup...?
  - filleduchaos 6y ago
    Nobody said it was harder, so what's your question exactly?
    - bjornsing 6y ago
      I guess I’m confused by exactly that distinction... If “more ambitious“ does not mean “willing to attempt harder” things, then what exactly does it mean? Or do people just think that a founder successful VC-backed startup is not as “successful” as somebody who graduates from medical school or gets a PhD?
amelius 6y ago
> Why should it be considered ambitious to do a PhD or become a medical doctor. At least it seems more ambitious to me than writing that note taking app or making people click ads.
flr03 6y ago
So you basically say that becoming a doctor or an astronaut is easy and doesn't require "ambition". I'm sorry I can't agree with that. Maybe as a former VC-backed founder you'd like to have the monopoly of ambition but there are many many ways to be ambitious. For some it's just be able to run 5km after being overweight for decades, for others it's changing the world with a vaccine.
- bjornsing 6y ago
  How anybody can equate becoming a doctor with becoming an astronaut is just beyond me. How many doctors are there in this world? How many astronauts? Ballpark answers to those two simple questions should be enough to understand they require vastly different levels of ambition...

jackpirate 6y ago

Those are just slogs that most people can get through if they stick it out... Most adults in the US do not even have a college degree. For their children, aspiring to be a doctor would be incredibly ambitious and an amazing accomplishment. Acknowledging that these high-prestige professions are very difficult for certain members of society to get into does not make talking about your ambitions "taboo", and I frankly find your comment incredibly out of touch with the average person.

bjornsing 6y ago
Yea, sorry, I’m in Sweden so may have a different perspective. But you must realize that if a child says “I’m going to start a successful VC-backed company” then that’s a lot more ambitious than saying “I’m gonna go to medical school”, right? (At least if we by more ambitious mean “has a lower probability of success”.)
czbond 6y ago
OP is simply meaning the steps are laid out for those disciplines - and one must follow the path. It just takes the time and effort and one can progress there. Whereas entrepreneurship is finding the path, along with much more - and failure is still a high chance.

float4 6y ago

> It’s like real ambition is now so taboo we can’t even talk about it Both in the times of the Romans and in the middle ages ambition wouldn't often be talked about since it was seen as a negative thing. That's not what you meant of course, but I always find it funny how people today seem to think that ambition has always been a virtuous trait or something.

filleduchaos 6y ago

Of course, when one actually takes that entire part in context it's clear what the author means: > To be ambitious often means things like wanting to do a Ph.D, become a medical doctor or an astronaut. On that scale, it's not really about being better at something you're doing (though it partially is), but joining a new game where it's supposedly harder.

bjornsing 6y ago
Is it? Do people think it’s harder to do a PhD or get through medical school than it is to succeed with a VC-backed startup...?
- filleduchaos 6y ago
  Nobody said it was harder, so what's your question exactly?
  - bjornsing 6y ago
    I guess I’m confused by exactly that distinction... If “more ambitious“ does not mean “willing to attempt harder” things, then what exactly does it mean? Or do people just think that a founder successful VC-backed startup is not as “successful” as somebody who graduates from medical school or gets a PhD?

amelius 6y ago

> Why should it be considered ambitious to do a PhD or become a medical doctor. At least it seems more ambitious to me than writing that note taking app or making people click ads.

flr03 6y ago

So you basically say that becoming a doctor or an astronaut is easy and doesn't require "ambition". I'm sorry I can't agree with that. Maybe as a former VC-backed founder you'd like to have the monopoly of ambition but there are many many ways to be ambitious. For some it's just be able to run 5km after being overweight for decades, for others it's changing the world with a vaccine.

bjornsing 6y ago
How anybody can equate becoming a doctor with becoming an astronaut is just beyond me. How many doctors are there in this world? How many astronauts? Ballpark answers to those two simple questions should be enough to understand they require vastly different levels of ambition...