4 ms·

> Given the parallels between starting companies and playing games, I like to recall the title of an excellent book on the early days of Nintendo. That title? G

by baxtr 6y ago

> Given the parallels between starting companies and playing games, I like to recall the title of an excellent book on the early days of Nintendo. That title? Game Over. Press Start to Continue. Words to work by. Maybe that’s one of the reasons wealthy people succeed more often as entrepreneurs because they can afford to re-play (no, I don’t have a source for that).

dhosek 6y ago
Good point. I started a magazine in 1994 and over the next seven years lost enough money that I spent the seven years after that digging out of the hole I ended up in. It was a good concept and had good response but was severely undercapitalized the whole time. If I were wealthier when I started out, it might have been a bigger success and would be my means of making a living now instead of existing as a few boxes of back issues in the basement.
- neonate 6y ago
  What was the magazine? Did you ever put any of it online?
  - dhosek 6y ago
    It was Serif: The Magazine of Type & Typography. A couple articles were on an earlier incarnation of the website, but they've disappeared in the course of one or more hosting changes since the magazine failed. I published among others, Robert Bringhurst, Charles Bigelow and Christian Schwartz (this last while he was still a high school student).
    - TYPE_FASTER 6y ago
      I found a few articles cached in the Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20010511052527/http://www.serifmagazine.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20010511052527/http://www.serifm....
ErikAugust 6y ago
"I'm trapped in a deadly video game... with just 1 man." - GZA, "I Gotcha Back" In other words, some people can have plenty of lives/"men", and some don't.
HaloZero 6y ago
No source but it's probably not even success. It's a lot of just numbers that wealthy people can also try to be entrepreneurs because they have their safety net to replay.
jjeaff 6y ago
I don't think you need a source. It's pretty obvious that is the case. Not only are wealthier people, or people from wealthier families, more likely to be able to take the time to start a business, but they are also able to try and fail many times until they succeed. But I would guess there is a fall off when you get to a certain level of wealth. A very wealthy heir would be less likely to be driven to start a business. So you need just enough poverty to create desire and urgency, but not so much that you have to stay stuck at a dead end job to make ends meet. I came from a middle class home and while my parents didn't ever give me much money, they were always there as a safety net. If things didn't work out, I would always have a hot meal and a bed to sleep ok if I needed it. Not to mention, they were able to co-sign on my first home loan and paid for half of my first car. Generational wealth - whether it is in cash, land, homes, education, or even just good credit, is a powerful thing.
- lioeters 6y ago
  > So you need just enough poverty to create desire and urgency, but not so much that you have to stay stuck at a dead end job to make ends meet. Having witnessed what poverty can do to ruin people, that's a tough statement to agree with. Perhaps this may serve as a counterpoint, in terms of how to "create desire and urgency" - to encourage people's self-motivation. A person whose base needs (in terms of Maslow's pyramid) are met, who doesn't have to worry about food and shelter - they do not necessarily stop being productive members of society. I recently started reading a book called Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive:_The_Surprising_Truth_About_What_Motivates_Us https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive:_The_Surprising_Truth_Ab... The thesis is that the following will result in increased performance and satisfaction: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. My view is that society is failing the public, especially the poor, in providing an environment where physical, psychological, and social needs are adequetly met. There's too much unnecessary suffering for how rich and abundant life can be for the least among us.
  - jjeaff 6y ago
    I was using poverty only relatively. By just enough poverty, I meant, just middle class enough to have a safety net. Which isn't actually poverty. But I suppose it could be considered poverty when compared to extreme wealth.
spaetzleesser 6y ago
I did a real estate project with two guys from wealthy families. Things didn’t go well and we lost tons of money. The two other guys got bailed out by their families, did another project that did well and now they are successful businessmen. I couldn’t participate second time due to lack of money and took more than 10 years to pay off my debt plus sold lost all savings. I think this is pretty common. When i did contracting for a while quite a few of the older contractors had failed businesses and tried to pay off their debt.
- smm2000 6y ago
  Why not default? Also good lesson is to always do LLC for real estate investments.

by baxtr 6y ago

dhosek 6y ago

Good point. I started a magazine in 1994 and over the next seven years lost enough money that I spent the seven years after that digging out of the hole I ended up in. It was a good concept and had good response but was severely undercapitalized the whole time. If I were wealthier when I started out, it might have been a bigger success and would be my means of making a living now instead of existing as a few boxes of back issues in the basement.

neonate 6y ago
What was the magazine? Did you ever put any of it online?
- dhosek 6y ago
  It was Serif: The Magazine of Type & Typography. A couple articles were on an earlier incarnation of the website, but they've disappeared in the course of one or more hosting changes since the magazine failed. I published among others, Robert Bringhurst, Charles Bigelow and Christian Schwartz (this last while he was still a high school student).
  - TYPE_FASTER 6y ago
    I found a few articles cached in the Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20010511052527/http://www.serifmagazine.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/20010511052527/http://www.serifm....

ErikAugust 6y ago

"I'm trapped in a deadly video game... with just 1 man." - GZA, "I Gotcha Back" In other words, some people can have plenty of lives/"men", and some don't.

HaloZero 6y ago

No source but it's probably not even success. It's a lot of just numbers that wealthy people can also try to be entrepreneurs because they have their safety net to replay.

jjeaff 6y ago

I don't think you need a source. It's pretty obvious that is the case. Not only are wealthier people, or people from wealthier families, more likely to be able to take the time to start a business, but they are also able to try and fail many times until they succeed. But I would guess there is a fall off when you get to a certain level of wealth. A very wealthy heir would be less likely to be driven to start a business. So you need just enough poverty to create desire and urgency, but not so much that you have to stay stuck at a dead end job to make ends meet. I came from a middle class home and while my parents didn't ever give me much money, they were always there as a safety net. If things didn't work out, I would always have a hot meal and a bed to sleep ok if I needed it. Not to mention, they were able to co-sign on my first home loan and paid for half of my first car. Generational wealth - whether it is in cash, land, homes, education, or even just good credit, is a powerful thing.

lioeters 6y ago
> So you need just enough poverty to create desire and urgency, but not so much that you have to stay stuck at a dead end job to make ends meet. Having witnessed what poverty can do to ruin people, that's a tough statement to agree with. Perhaps this may serve as a counterpoint, in terms of how to "create desire and urgency" - to encourage people's self-motivation. A person whose base needs (in terms of Maslow's pyramid) are met, who doesn't have to worry about food and shelter - they do not necessarily stop being productive members of society. I recently started reading a book called Drive: The Surprising Truth about What Motivates Us. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive:_The_Surprising_Truth_About_What_Motivates_Us https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive:_The_Surprising_Truth_Ab... The thesis is that the following will result in increased performance and satisfaction: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. My view is that society is failing the public, especially the poor, in providing an environment where physical, psychological, and social needs are adequetly met. There's too much unnecessary suffering for how rich and abundant life can be for the least among us.
- jjeaff 6y ago
  I was using poverty only relatively. By just enough poverty, I meant, just middle class enough to have a safety net. Which isn't actually poverty. But I suppose it could be considered poverty when compared to extreme wealth.

spaetzleesser 6y ago

I did a real estate project with two guys from wealthy families. Things didn’t go well and we lost tons of money. The two other guys got bailed out by their families, did another project that did well and now they are successful businessmen. I couldn’t participate second time due to lack of money and took more than 10 years to pay off my debt plus sold lost all savings. I think this is pretty common. When i did contracting for a while quite a few of the older contractors had failed businesses and tried to pay off their debt.

smm2000 6y ago
Why not default? Also good lesson is to always do LLC for real estate investments.