Being afraid of failure is perfectly rational if one genuinely does not have any safety net. Something the middle class wealthy folks here probably forget.
Fear of failure itself is OK. Using lack of wealth as an excuse is not. While one guy who has access to the Internet and have enough time to post on hacker news is complaining about how he's screwed because he's not born into a "wealthy family", there are many people who are in much worse situations who actually get shit done on their own. It's just a difference in mindset. While this guy complains about how he can't take risks because he has no fallback, another guy in exactly the same situation may work 10 times harder exactly because he doesn't like his life without a fallback and wants to do something about it.
Saying things like what? "I do not have the time to make them happen"?
If so, I'd say that's more a matter of prioritization (assuming at least one project is underway). For example, I think we could all agree that working on 30 projects would be an ineffective way to spend time. Mark Cuban recommends "1, not 50" [1]. You have to pick your best candidate project and run with it, and what's best depends on what your criteria are.
I think the term "fear of failure" is applied too broadly. Often this "fear" is more a healthy respect for the challenge of bringing highly functional yet simple experiences to your end user. Those experiences coupled with a product that solves a legitimate problem, absent any legal or bureaucratic barriers, is a recipe for winning. Understanding the intricacies of the challenge can make it difficult to find a single-threaded manner to work on it. It's almost more of a logical bewilderment than it is fear.
If none of the ~30 projects are being worked on then maybe fear of failure or laziness might apply but it could still be a matter of prioritization.
This guy calls himself "wage slave", which means he's not some homeless bum and can sustain himself. He is also on hacker news commenting on stuff, so he does have time. Also I never said fear of failure was bad. I just pointed out that he's using his "not being born into a wealthy family" as an excuse when the real reason is in fear of failure or laziness. Lastly, does this guy sound like someone who is actually working on a project but only complaining how he wishes he had more time so he could work more?
Woooo 11 comments in 501 days is really overdoing it, HN is obviously where all his free time goes.
And I didn't say you said fear of failure was bad, I said it was applied too broadly and possibly not even applicable in this case, though you seem to have thoroughly investigated his background, personality, time expenditures and other personal preferences, so I'm sure you know better.