A liberal paraphrase might boil down to the old adage: Don't make a bet you can't afford to lose Back in the day, people presumably "bet the farm" on XYZ shad

A liberal paraphrase might boil down to the old adage: Don't make a bet you can't afford to lose Back in the day, people presumably "bet the farm" on XYZ shady investment. Since the farm was all they had, it was a bet they could not afford to lose. But obviously 9/10 startups fail to be great investments. So, as public policy, the Gov't didn't want 9/10 farmers to go bankrupt. a Rich guy will a $$$ minimum assets can still lose a "farm" and have something left (ie, diversification). Becuase the rich guy can (in theory) have scope for more investments (experience) and/or to pay advisors (expertise), they are seperated out. Note that there are lot of unsophisticated rich people and/or investors in certain areas that have varying levels of sophistication (empirically). But with the privelege of wealth come the obligation to realize caveat emptor, vis-a-vis public policy.