4 ms·

It’s an interesting article. In my view, Non-conformists start companies. Possibly aggressive non-conformists most of all. In my personal case, I made many que

by shon 4y ago

It’s an interesting article. In my view, Non-conformists start companies. Possibly aggressive non-conformists most of all. In my personal case, I made many questionable choices, including turning down a job at Microsoft in the nineties (would have been better financially) and leaving multiple great jobs (one of which afforded me corporate apartments in Honolulu and London) to risk everything multiple times to start multiple companies. So there’s risk-seeking behavior there as well as a refusal to accept “good enough” even when it was almost definitely a better choice from a financial and physical health perspective. I can still see my dad shaking his head about turning down Microsoft… It sort of worked out. I had a good exit but nothing like kicking it at M$ for 30 years would have been. I’m not sure we why we glamorize this. But in the end I wouldn’t change it. I did it my way. I’m now trying to do it again. This is why I can’t play any games which require grinding (looking at you Eve) because I know it’s more fun IRL. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Darmody 4y ago
That's why I can't play almost any game, because I'll grind everything, even useless achievements. At least I have idle games and I'm also working on one which will probably end up in nothing.
barrysteve 4y ago
"including turning down a job at Microsoft in the nineties I can still see my dad shaking his head about turning down Microsoft…" That was quite a while ago... Probably should forgive and forget that one. Forgiving the disappointment makes mental space for new opportunities. I agree non-conformists start the really visible flashy companies. A new aircraft maintenance company can make bank, but it doesn't really grab headlines.
jaggederest 4y ago
Not especially non-conformists - non-conformity is merely a symptom. As you say, risk seeking behavior, resulting from the actual cause: "poor risk assessment" - ties right in to difficult childhood, mental health issues, and the market misjudging you (all causes or signs of trauma and being outside the norm). I say this as someone with an appetite for trying new things, being non-conformist, and adventure sports - clearly the accuracy or the precision of my risk assessment model is significantly outside the norm! People with excellent and accurate risk estimation and assessment work as actuaries, or accountants, certain kinds of insurance brokers, something nice and safe where you can do good work for 35 years and retire. The quintessential "brown volvo" driver. Now, I personally think those people are rather safe and uninteresting - but then we've already established I'm probably not the person to base your decisions on! If people are interested, there are good psychological tests for risk assessment skills - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impulsivity#Assessment_of_impulsivity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impulsivity#Assessment_of_impu...
- metafunctor 4y ago
  In my experience, most successful entrepreneurs are usually quite good at accurately assessing risks. They are simply more capable and willing to embrace certain risks in pursuit of greater rewards in the future.
  - drusenko 4y ago
    Agreed. I think the dominant entrepreneurial trait isn’t risk taking, it’s optimism.
    - throwaway290 4y ago
      Optimism is basically the same as poor risk assessment. Risk assessment, aka spending time analyzing everything that could go wrong ahead of time. Show me an optimist who does that and I will show you a pessimist. But the dominant trait at least for serial entrepreneurs might still be pessimism at the core, because it requires willingness to fail. You need to be pessimistic enough to expect to fail many times as a normal course of action until you luck out. If you don't expect to fail then the first large failure becomes the final blow.
      - Kye 4y ago
        This is the same kind of error people make when they assume an introvert must have poor social skills, even though that's often not the case. There's a meme/comic that goes like this: Panel 1, "Nothing really matters": a little creature in a void, sad. "What people think nihilism is." Panel 2, "Nothing really matters": the same creature surrounded by rainbows and puppies, happy. "What nihilism really is." In the same way that recognizing nothing really matters in our march toward entropy means we can get on with choosing our own path in life, recognizing the pitfalls of a potential path means we can walk it in confidence. I know there be dragons, and I'm going to date them all.
        throwaway290 4y ago
        > I know there be dragons, and I'm going to date them all I want to steal that quote. (Pessimistically I know I will forget it, so optimistically I'll try to have it printed on a T-shirt!)
trylfthsk 4y ago
>This is why I can’t play any games which require grinding (looking at you Eve) Eve actually broke my desire to play a lot of games for this exact reason.
mattgreenrocks 4y ago
> This is why I can’t play any games which require grinding (looking at you Eve) because I know it’s more fun IRL. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ This realization almost permanently put me off most online video games. Most team-based games are made such that one individual can't swing the game too much, because that's seen as bad. Thus only about 20-30% of games you can directly impact, thus you're mainly just burning time with limited agency for player skill. MMORPGs are timesinks first and foremost, rather than skill-based games. I replaced them (mostly) with music. Music has an infinite skill ceiling that is apparent, it is cooperative, creative, and tends to have people that want to be there, versus people who are there because they don't have anything better to do. Have to throw a good mention of Dark Souls here. The vibes, the story, and the themes resonate deeply with me and connect naturally with the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.
- altgeek 4y ago
  Had to chime in here RE: music. When I encounter people that wish they could play guitar/piano/etc and say "they have no time", but then I find out they play games for hours per day. Well... priorities right? (I hardly play games anymore)

by shon 4y ago

Darmody 4y ago

That's why I can't play almost any game, because I'll grind everything, even useless achievements. At least I have idle games and I'm also working on one which will probably end up in nothing.

barrysteve 4y ago

"including turning down a job at Microsoft in the nineties I can still see my dad shaking his head about turning down Microsoft…" That was quite a while ago... Probably should forgive and forget that one. Forgiving the disappointment makes mental space for new opportunities. I agree non-conformists start the really visible flashy companies. A new aircraft maintenance company can make bank, but it doesn't really grab headlines.

jaggederest 4y ago

Not especially non-conformists - non-conformity is merely a symptom. As you say, risk seeking behavior, resulting from the actual cause: "poor risk assessment" - ties right in to difficult childhood, mental health issues, and the market misjudging you (all causes or signs of trauma and being outside the norm). I say this as someone with an appetite for trying new things, being non-conformist, and adventure sports - clearly the accuracy or the precision of my risk assessment model is significantly outside the norm! People with excellent and accurate risk estimation and assessment work as actuaries, or accountants, certain kinds of insurance brokers, something nice and safe where you can do good work for 35 years and retire. The quintessential "brown volvo" driver. Now, I personally think those people are rather safe and uninteresting - but then we've already established I'm probably not the person to base your decisions on! If people are interested, there are good psychological tests for risk assessment skills - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impulsivity#Assessment_of_impulsivity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impulsivity#Assessment_of_impu...

metafunctor 4y ago
In my experience, most successful entrepreneurs are usually quite good at accurately assessing risks. They are simply more capable and willing to embrace certain risks in pursuit of greater rewards in the future.
- drusenko 4y ago
  Agreed. I think the dominant entrepreneurial trait isn’t risk taking, it’s optimism.
  - throwaway290 4y ago
    Optimism is basically the same as poor risk assessment. Risk assessment, aka spending time analyzing everything that could go wrong ahead of time. Show me an optimist who does that and I will show you a pessimist. But the dominant trait at least for serial entrepreneurs might still be pessimism at the core, because it requires willingness to fail. You need to be pessimistic enough to expect to fail many times as a normal course of action until you luck out. If you don't expect to fail then the first large failure becomes the final blow.
    - Kye 4y ago
      This is the same kind of error people make when they assume an introvert must have poor social skills, even though that's often not the case. There's a meme/comic that goes like this: Panel 1, "Nothing really matters": a little creature in a void, sad. "What people think nihilism is." Panel 2, "Nothing really matters": the same creature surrounded by rainbows and puppies, happy. "What nihilism really is." In the same way that recognizing nothing really matters in our march toward entropy means we can get on with choosing our own path in life, recognizing the pitfalls of a potential path means we can walk it in confidence. I know there be dragons, and I'm going to date them all.
      - throwaway290 4y ago
        > I know there be dragons, and I'm going to date them all I want to steal that quote. (Pessimistically I know I will forget it, so optimistically I'll try to have it printed on a T-shirt!)

trylfthsk 4y ago

>This is why I can’t play any games which require grinding (looking at you Eve) Eve actually broke my desire to play a lot of games for this exact reason.

mattgreenrocks 4y ago

> This is why I can’t play any games which require grinding (looking at you Eve) because I know it’s more fun IRL. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ This realization almost permanently put me off most online video games. Most team-based games are made such that one individual can't swing the game too much, because that's seen as bad. Thus only about 20-30% of games you can directly impact, thus you're mainly just burning time with limited agency for player skill. MMORPGs are timesinks first and foremost, rather than skill-based games. I replaced them (mostly) with music. Music has an infinite skill ceiling that is apparent, it is cooperative, creative, and tends to have people that want to be there, versus people who are there because they don't have anything better to do. Have to throw a good mention of Dark Souls here. The vibes, the story, and the themes resonate deeply with me and connect naturally with the highs and lows of entrepreneurship.

altgeek 4y ago
Had to chime in here RE: music. When I encounter people that wish they could play guitar/piano/etc and say "they have no time", but then I find out they play games for hours per day. Well... priorities right? (I hardly play games anymore)