4 ms·

The cynical side of me thinks serial entrepreneur means having rich parents who can provide you safety net when your latest venture fails.

hdjjhhvvhga 4y ago
Which, frankly speaking, might not seem fair, but is not necessarily bad. Over the centuries, people were doing things that were not directly useful to the society (like art) only thanks to being sponsored by someone else (who cared - in this case, parents). And even if after 10 years you fail to produce a startup than you can sell,* you are still left with tons of experience that you can use (yes, negative experience counts, too). *) Or bring a positive net result, but this is a bit more difficult.
blagie 4y ago
s/cynic/realist/g It usually takes at three generations of highly-successful individuals: Gen 1: Manual labor, kid goes to college and gets a professional job Gen 2: Professional has a decent home, can provide a basic safety net, and can push / encourage / raise kid to be academically competitive at an elite level. Gen 3: Starts a business which reaches millions of dollars / enough to be independently wealthy. You can add one more generation if you also want to break into the monied power class. That's on the very, very fast end. It's usually much more than that, since it's rare each generation will have a highly-successful individual. It's better than no mobility. We had no mobility just a few hundred years ago.
- conductr 4y ago
  What happens next is interesting too. It takes many forms afterwards. I think many here/on this topic view this as a happily ever after scenario where then there is a family tree full of successful people doing interesting things at low personal risks. My grandpa was a Gen 4 in your lineup. He was essentially a trust fund kid that never worked and just squandered the significant savings and assets of his depression era parents. My dad got some rather minor assets. Or so I heard growing up. In reality he got a free house, the one I grew up in, and several debt free rental units/cash flow. Not luxury apartments but growing college town type market. He was essentially a minor league trust fund kid who was bitter about having to work to afford everything he wanted (something he never saw his dad do). He kept a mediocre job and never strived for much. He was more interested in exotic cars, fashion, women, etc. He ultimately blew through all his inheritance in by my young adult years. I got nothing but a stable home environment growing up. Paid for my own college, cars, and everything else. I know many others in similar situations where gen 4-6 seems to be highly correlated to addiction, crime, etc. and just never strive for more. I feel like I’m just starting over with no real advantage. Similar to maybe what gen 2 had.
  - bigcat12345678 4y ago
    "Wealth does not last more than 3 generations" This is my translation from "富不过三代”, an old Chinese saying about the impossibility of sustaining wealth. In some similar way, the power and wealth of a nation also is unsustainable. Every powerful nation falls eventually. And even the whole earth undergo patterns of up and down. 20th century seems a peak of human civilization, and 21 century seems a slow match to the inevitable crash...
    - blitzar 4y ago
      "Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations" Thats what I was tought as a kid... although oop north in the UK they say "clogs to clogs in three generations".
      - bigcat12345678 4y ago
        Wow, cannot believe there is another saying so close to the Chinese one...

hdjjhhvvhga 4y ago

Which, frankly speaking, might not seem fair, but is not necessarily bad. Over the centuries, people were doing things that were not directly useful to the society (like art) only thanks to being sponsored by someone else (who cared - in this case, parents). And even if after 10 years you fail to produce a startup than you can sell,* you are still left with tons of experience that you can use (yes, negative experience counts, too). *) Or bring a positive net result, but this is a bit more difficult.

blagie 4y ago

s/cynic/realist/g It usually takes at three generations of highly-successful individuals: Gen 1: Manual labor, kid goes to college and gets a professional job Gen 2: Professional has a decent home, can provide a basic safety net, and can push / encourage / raise kid to be academically competitive at an elite level. Gen 3: Starts a business which reaches millions of dollars / enough to be independently wealthy. You can add one more generation if you also want to break into the monied power class. That's on the very, very fast end. It's usually much more than that, since it's rare each generation will have a highly-successful individual. It's better than no mobility. We had no mobility just a few hundred years ago.

conductr 4y ago
What happens next is interesting too. It takes many forms afterwards. I think many here/on this topic view this as a happily ever after scenario where then there is a family tree full of successful people doing interesting things at low personal risks. My grandpa was a Gen 4 in your lineup. He was essentially a trust fund kid that never worked and just squandered the significant savings and assets of his depression era parents. My dad got some rather minor assets. Or so I heard growing up. In reality he got a free house, the one I grew up in, and several debt free rental units/cash flow. Not luxury apartments but growing college town type market. He was essentially a minor league trust fund kid who was bitter about having to work to afford everything he wanted (something he never saw his dad do). He kept a mediocre job and never strived for much. He was more interested in exotic cars, fashion, women, etc. He ultimately blew through all his inheritance in by my young adult years. I got nothing but a stable home environment growing up. Paid for my own college, cars, and everything else. I know many others in similar situations where gen 4-6 seems to be highly correlated to addiction, crime, etc. and just never strive for more. I feel like I’m just starting over with no real advantage. Similar to maybe what gen 2 had.
- bigcat12345678 4y ago
  "Wealth does not last more than 3 generations" This is my translation from "富不过三代”, an old Chinese saying about the impossibility of sustaining wealth. In some similar way, the power and wealth of a nation also is unsustainable. Every powerful nation falls eventually. And even the whole earth undergo patterns of up and down. 20th century seems a peak of human civilization, and 21 century seems a slow match to the inevitable crash...
  - blitzar 4y ago
    "Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations" Thats what I was tought as a kid... although oop north in the UK they say "clogs to clogs in three generations".
    - bigcat12345678 4y ago
      Wow, cannot believe there is another saying so close to the Chinese one...