4 ms·

This is such a horrible take I am not going to give the article a click. I know two successful entrepreneurs who come from a situation of struggle in third wor

This is such a horrible take I am not going to give the article a click. I know two successful entrepreneurs who come from a situation of struggle in third world countries. Also my girlfriend, who grew up in poverty in Pennsylvania, and now is on her third stable business. We are creating a culture of excuses for anybody who fails at chasing their dreams or doesn’t even have the motivation to do so; the equivalent of getting a “trophy for trying”, but tailored to adults. This culture is harming the perception of individuals who otherwise just need an extra push of positivity in their journey. I miss the days (not so long ago) when the advice was “work harder and things will happen”. That’s the advice I got and it worked for me. If you don’t have that hope then you’ll defeat yourself.

MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
I agree we shouldn’t create a culture of excuses but at the same time you have to notice that most successful founders come from wealthy backgrounds and the rest seem to be immigrants (who might be wealthy as well?). The average HN poster lives in a Silicon Valley bubble and doesn’t realize this.
- DevKoala 5y ago
  I am one of those immigrants who were “wealthy”, which meant my family was able to save money for years to afford my plane ticket to the USA. When I came here I was one of the poorest kids at school. Stop making excuses.
  - MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
    > Stop making excuses. Strawman. No one is making excuses, we are explaining the massive and very uncomfortable inequalities that no one seems to bring up around here. The fact that this article is so highly upvoted but has such disdain in the comments tells me there are a lot of silent folks out there who understand what is going on.
- hef19898 5y ago
  Also with the famous 9 in 10 start-ups failing, I don't think we need an excuse for failed business attempts. Being on HN, I always assume founder -> start-up, that a lot of poorer folks are creating and running successful small businesses is a known fact. It's simply not the kind of business we talk about.
carbonguy 5y ago
> We are creating a culture of excuses for anybody who fails at chasing their dreams or doesn’t even have the motivation to do so; the equivalent of getting a “trophy for trying”, but tailored to adults. You seem to be implying that it's a moral failing of some kind to NOT be an entrepreneur - am I reading you right? As though failing at a risky undertaking - or not bothering in the first place - is something that needs to be excused?

MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago

I agree we shouldn’t create a culture of excuses but at the same time you have to notice that most successful founders come from wealthy backgrounds and the rest seem to be immigrants (who might be wealthy as well?). The average HN poster lives in a Silicon Valley bubble and doesn’t realize this.

DevKoala 5y ago
I am one of those immigrants who were “wealthy”, which meant my family was able to save money for years to afford my plane ticket to the USA. When I came here I was one of the poorest kids at school. Stop making excuses.
- MaxHoppersGhost 5y ago
  > Stop making excuses. Strawman. No one is making excuses, we are explaining the massive and very uncomfortable inequalities that no one seems to bring up around here. The fact that this article is so highly upvoted but has such disdain in the comments tells me there are a lot of silent folks out there who understand what is going on.
hef19898 5y ago
Also with the famous 9 in 10 start-ups failing, I don't think we need an excuse for failed business attempts. Being on HN, I always assume founder -> start-up, that a lot of poorer folks are creating and running successful small businesses is a known fact. It's simply not the kind of business we talk about.

carbonguy 5y ago

> We are creating a culture of excuses for anybody who fails at chasing their dreams or doesn’t even have the motivation to do so; the equivalent of getting a “trophy for trying”, but tailored to adults. You seem to be implying that it's a moral failing of some kind to NOT be an entrepreneur - am I reading you right? As though failing at a risky undertaking - or not bothering in the first place - is something that needs to be excused?