2 ms·

> The irony is, with private health insurance and a limited welfare system, the penalty for taking a risk and failing can be a lot worse in the US than the UK.

by anamax 15y ago

> The irony is, with private health insurance and a limited welfare system, the penalty for taking a risk and failing can be a lot worse in the US than the UK. You're assuming something about what happens when you fail in the US that isn't true. > But growing up in the UK, ambitious young engineers dream of going to work for Microsoft or having a successful career within a big accountancy firm. That "UK dream" is the US backup plan. Seriously - health insurance and welfare isn't one of the things on my "what happens if I fail" list because I'll just go get a job. Oh, and the health insurance costs aren't actually that significant. I know, because I've had the backup plan fail and had to do them out of pocket. Since I'm "old", I'm pretty much a worse case.

DanI-S 15y ago
All this is totally dependent on your personal background. It may well be easier if you're "old", since you've already had a chance to establish a career and make yourself hireable - but I can imagine it takes some balls to try to start a business immediately after graduating (or instead of going to college) unless you have a pretty good parental safety net. However, we see it all the time from US kids - and not so much from the UK.
- anamax 15y ago
  > It may well be easier if you're "old", since you've already had a chance to establish a career and make yourself hireable You're assuming something about age discrimination.... > I can imagine it takes some balls to try to start a business immediately after graduating (or instead of going to college) Huh? Why are you assuming that a youngster is less hirable/desirable after the biz that they start fails? They're not, they're more hirable/desirable, at least in the US. (Of course, if they weren't very hireable before, that may carry over, but we're not talking about those folks.) > unless you have a pretty good parental safety net. That's not particularly relevant.

by anamax 15y ago

DanI-S 15y ago

All this is totally dependent on your personal background. It may well be easier if you're "old", since you've already had a chance to establish a career and make yourself hireable - but I can imagine it takes some balls to try to start a business immediately after graduating (or instead of going to college) unless you have a pretty good parental safety net. However, we see it all the time from US kids - and not so much from the UK.

anamax 15y ago
> It may well be easier if you're "old", since you've already had a chance to establish a career and make yourself hireable You're assuming something about age discrimination.... > I can imagine it takes some balls to try to start a business immediately after graduating (or instead of going to college) Huh? Why are you assuming that a youngster is less hirable/desirable after the biz that they start fails? They're not, they're more hirable/desirable, at least in the US. (Of course, if they weren't very hireable before, that may carry over, but we're not talking about those folks.) > unless you have a pretty good parental safety net. That's not particularly relevant.