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This does make the assumption that the parents are doing well enough to be able to support their adult children. There are some situations where the parents nee

by haney 6y ago

This does make the assumption that the parents are doing well enough to be able to support their adult children. There are some situations where the parents need the support of adult children, instead of the other way around.

onetimemanytime 6y ago
Sleep in the couch or basement, food costs very little. That's still a lot of support, means that no matter what you have a place to stay and regroup. Not all parents can do that but most could
blub 6y ago
That assumption holds for most of the population in European countries, even the poorest ones. In fact it's common for young people to live with their parents a long time. One has to be either dirt poor or very unlucky not to he able to move back with relatives. This sound like an excuse.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
  The median wealth of African American households in the U.S. is $35k, vs. $150k for white households. Yes - most people might be able to move back in with relatives, but among those people who can't, minorities are almost certainly going to be overrepresented, which was OP's point.
  - golemiprague 6y ago
    What it got to do with household income? there are whole countries where the average income is lower than that and people stay with their parents. If you lived with your parents before why wouldn't you be able to live again after some financial disaster? If anything it is the opposite, as an adult you can contribute to the household income. Tired of those black people excuses, the reason they are not represented is not because they can't go back to their parents, it is the same reason they are not also regularly represented in tech companies as employees, because they never bothered to learn anything technical. Unlike slightly less black Indians with lower median household wealth to start with and much less chances to hook with someone in Tinder in the US, which is the real pure racism nobody talks about.
  - blub 6y ago
    The world's quite bigger than the US and its particularities don't apply in most other countries.
rcoder 6y ago
My personal stance towards high-risk startups changed dramatically a few years ago when I took on a big chunk of responsibility for my parents' retirement. My "nest egg" that could be absorbed in a pre-revenue startup has more or less been transformed into the house they've retired into. Having my first kid a couple of years later only compounded the effect. (They're also mutually-dependent, since my parents provide essential childcare while schools and daycare are shut down due to COVID. My parents not having to work right now is literally a matter of life and death given their age and medical histories.) Regardless, "smart, sustainable work that will support my family" doesn't really map to the intentionally-accelerated make-or-break pace of most incubators and funds. Nor do those programs naturally align with founders who want to create a solid long-term business working from sound operating fundamentals (positive cashflow, measured and even conservative hiring, working to the team's strengths) instead of chasing the next exploding market and "faking it until you make it". Coincidentally those safer, longer-term plays are also the ones most likely to actually build generational wealth and financial independence for people starting without either. The lack of a safety net (or the presence of one that you're thoroughly entangled in for others' sake) makes all-or-nothing, giant bets far less tenable when you aren't effectively free from having to worry about mundane details like housing or medical costs. That in turn discourages if not de facto shuts out both the least privileged and those with meaningful resources but too much to lose if it all goes wrong.

by haney 6y ago

onetimemanytime 6y ago

Sleep in the couch or basement, food costs very little. That's still a lot of support, means that no matter what you have a place to stay and regroup. Not all parents can do that but most could

blub 6y ago

That assumption holds for most of the population in European countries, even the poorest ones. In fact it's common for young people to live with their parents a long time. One has to be either dirt poor or very unlucky not to he able to move back with relatives. This sound like an excuse.

rrrrrrrrrrrryan 6y ago
The median wealth of African American households in the U.S. is $35k, vs. $150k for white households. Yes - most people might be able to move back in with relatives, but among those people who can't, minorities are almost certainly going to be overrepresented, which was OP's point.
- golemiprague 6y ago
  What it got to do with household income? there are whole countries where the average income is lower than that and people stay with their parents. If you lived with your parents before why wouldn't you be able to live again after some financial disaster? If anything it is the opposite, as an adult you can contribute to the household income. Tired of those black people excuses, the reason they are not represented is not because they can't go back to their parents, it is the same reason they are not also regularly represented in tech companies as employees, because they never bothered to learn anything technical. Unlike slightly less black Indians with lower median household wealth to start with and much less chances to hook with someone in Tinder in the US, which is the real pure racism nobody talks about.
- blub 6y ago
  The world's quite bigger than the US and its particularities don't apply in most other countries.

rcoder 6y ago

My personal stance towards high-risk startups changed dramatically a few years ago when I took on a big chunk of responsibility for my parents' retirement. My "nest egg" that could be absorbed in a pre-revenue startup has more or less been transformed into the house they've retired into. Having my first kid a couple of years later only compounded the effect. (They're also mutually-dependent, since my parents provide essential childcare while schools and daycare are shut down due to COVID. My parents not having to work right now is literally a matter of life and death given their age and medical histories.) Regardless, "smart, sustainable work that will support my family" doesn't really map to the intentionally-accelerated make-or-break pace of most incubators and funds. Nor do those programs naturally align with founders who want to create a solid long-term business working from sound operating fundamentals (positive cashflow, measured and even conservative hiring, working to the team's strengths) instead of chasing the next exploding market and "faking it until you make it". Coincidentally those safer, longer-term plays are also the ones most likely to actually build generational wealth and financial independence for people starting without either. The lack of a safety net (or the presence of one that you're thoroughly entangled in for others' sake) makes all-or-nothing, giant bets far less tenable when you aren't effectively free from having to worry about mundane details like housing or medical costs. That in turn discourages if not de facto shuts out both the least privileged and those with meaningful resources but too much to lose if it all goes wrong.