vrypan |--o--| on Farcaster

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https://warpcast.com/~/channel/rish

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rish pfp

I had this thought the other day - people talk about entrepreneurs taking risks but in most cases, there's no real risk the risk is so negligible, it might as well be zero real risk would blow our minds - it's unimaginable, incomprehensible imagine free soloing El Cap or fighting on the frontlines of an active war zone, that's real risk so out there that your brain rejects it entirely, that's real risk almost none of us know what risk really is

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Tony D’Addeo pfp

opportunity cost risk—negligible if you’re some combo of young, smart, technical, and live in america capital risk—mostly only risked by people who can afford it and with enough bets that the risk is fairly low social risk—entrepreneurs are glorified in America physical risk—zero good take

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vrypan |--o--| pfp

So, if you are young, healthy, well connected, highly educated, in a sector that is booming, you have no debt, you don't have anyone depending on you, and you have the financial security that if everything goes south you won't live on the streets, yea, starting a company is not risky at all, it can even be a win-win decision. In this case, the opportunity cost is you could instead spend the next 3 years backpacking around the world, instead of presenting to VCs, worrying about your runway and being in the unpleasant position of firing people.

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rish pfp

Example of someone trying to start a company and ending up living on the streets? Re: traveling - ofc, do what brings you joy. The parent cast evaluates risk, doesn’t say everyone should actually do this one thing.

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vrypan |--o--| pfp

> Example of someone trying to start a company and ending up living on the streets? Seriously? I know many people who started a company and were financially destroyed and left with nothing. Unless by "entrepreneurs" you mean "VC funded tech startup".

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rish pfp

You misunderstand. I mean literally live on the streets. People die fighting a war, that’s the comparison in the parent cast. There’s no doubts entrepreneurship is a great way to become poor but the risk bar is higher.

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vrypan |--o--| pfp

I think you misunderstand too :-) When people say, "entrepreneurs take risks" they mean financial risks. They compare starting your own company vs being employed. They don't mean he risked his life, and they don't compare starting a company that builds an app to being a test pilot, crossing the sea as a refugee, or being in the frontlines of an active war. :-)

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vrypan |--o--| pfp

The same rules apply when we say "the coach took a big risk by not starting with him", or "it was a big risk for his campaign to support this", etc. There is a context.

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rish pfp

> The same rules apply when we say "the coach took a big risk by not starting with him", or "it was a big risk for his campaign to support this", etc. There is a context. Agree. Risk in this context in confined to a game / campaign / something that is not someone's life. It's a bounded project that can fail and people can move on. This is actually my point (more below). > When people say, "entrepreneurs take risks" they mean financial risks. They compare starting your own company vs being employed. They don't mean he risked his life, and they don't compare starting a company that builds an app to being a test pilot, crossing the sea as a refugee, or being in the frontlines of an active war. :-) Right. In this case, the context is _perceived_ to be similar - the risk to someone's own future life. Entrepreneurship is seen, at least by some, as a big enough risk to future life while should be seen closer to the first context of a bounded project - a game, or campaign. Then it immediately seems lower risk. When interpreting in hindsight, we know there's context but in the moment, culture makes it seem like the risk is very high. If we force our brains to remember the context, it's clear that [entrepreneurial] risk is high _within that context window._ In the grand scheme of things, it's not that high after all.

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