Thank you very much for your insightful response. Having worked for a couple of hi-tech startups, I am a little bit acquainted with the entrepreneurial world.

Thank you very much for your insightful response. Having worked for a couple of hi-tech startups, I am a little bit acquainted with the entrepreneurial world. Since both startups failed after a few painful years, I am also acquainted with failure and burn-out. No complaints. I knew how slim the odds were ;-) I am fully aware that my thesis is quite ludicrous indeed. It may be a metaphor, but it is also an overly far-fetched one. All in all, I entirely agree with everything you wrote. Allow me to explain where this heretic thought of mine comes from: I come from Europe. My country is literally dominated by interest groups. With the end of European imperialism, my home country declined both in influence and affluence, as many others. Most people still live in the grandiose and glorious past, and haven't realized the world has changed. The country no longer produces much, and there's no longer an empire to supply the home land with resources at an affordable price. Some "bright politicians" (pun intended) thought of a solution: to create a clone of Silicon Valley in their land. As a result, there are tons of government-funded "innovation agencies" whose goal is to pro-actively promote entrepreneurship. Moreover, successful entrepreneurs show up on TV as rock stars. The old bankers inherited their wealth from their families. These guys are self made men, and since the country hasn't had many of those, they are admired. There really is an effort to promote entrepreneurship, as it is perceived as the one and only salvation to the impending economic debacle. I would not call it a conspiracy (what an over-charged word!), but everyone in positions of power is promoting the idea that the country needs startups. Politicians, business leaders, distinguished academics. The meme is that starting a business is almost a patriotic duty!! Serve your country!! Found a company! No joke. Overall, I believe this is good because the country needs to renew itself. However, I think the risks are being left out of the propaganda. These people are luring kids with the promise of fame, a comfortable lifestyle, and a meaningful career. Most of the kids being "brain-washed" will fail, though they haven't yet realized it. Of course, the rich kids are still going into politics, law, management consulting and banking. It's the middle-class kids who are being lured into this. Again, I know this is an over-stretched metaphor, but to me it looks a tiny bit like those war-time recruiting ads for the military where they emphasize the "adventure", but minimize the grim survival statistics. Once again, thanks for your input. It did put things in perspective :-)