FWIW, you can compete in arenas where extremely well resourced finance firms literally don't allocate people. The return on an obligated <5% ownership stake in

FWIW, you can compete in arenas where extremely well resourced finance firms literally don't allocate people. The return on an obligated <5% ownership stake in a <$10Bn company isn't worth the attention of said firms, but is nice if your AUM is <$100mm (i.e. most individuals and approximately zero well-resourced finance firms). I'm not saying it's the best thing to do: it's an allocation of time and energy that you could put towards literally anything else. Basically, it requires ongoing education and discipline, as most worthwhile things do. But it's a valid financial choice and the circumstances for success are less rare than you give it credit for. It's a bit like concluding that it's not worth working for a startup because 90% of "startups" "fail", or whatever the quoted statistic is these days. The published and oft-discussed maps are not a complete representation of the actual territory – there's a lot of nuance in there.