[bicubic]

You can't bet on an opportunity if you don't have any money to bet. I've lost count of how many ambitious and talented people I know who had ideas they wanted to bet on, but couldn't because of lack of disposable funds.

Having the resources to take risks is the number one factor to succeeding, I think. Being able to identify good opportunities comes after that.

[ryandrake]

And a lot of these people have the resources to keep betting after they fail. I recall someone I know who failed 4 businesses, falling back to his rich family after each try while he cooked up the next one. Eventually hit the jackpot on the fifth one and acted as though he was a self-made genius.

Baseball is easy when you have unlimited at-bats.

[stephengillie]

...born on 3rd base, having grown up thinking she had hit a triple... - various, 2013

[apatters]

Even if you have no money you can bet your personal time and effort.

I agree that having financial resources is a huge leg up, but I don't believe it's mandatory. My beliefs are formed from personal experience. I came from a working class family that lived below the poverty line. My parents kicked me out at 18 with a warning that if I ever wanted to come back I'd better be ready to pay them rent. (Resolved that I would never take them up on that offer, never did.) When I started my business I had $250 in the bank and no idea how I was going to pay the next month's rent.

For years I failed and I sacrificed where I had to. I worked long hours at terrible rates, I didn't spend a dollar more than necessary to survive, I gave up on my hope of saving and buying property, I neglected my health, I gave up on my hope of finding a partner and starting a family because women aren't interested in a nerd who has nothing to his name except dreams.

These are the sacrifices you can make if you aren't born into wealth but you want to achieve it. Some people absolutely have success handed to them. They have a safety net which allows them to fail until they succeed. For the rest of us, you sacrifice time, energy, opportunity, and health.

It took years but it worked, one day I hit on a great business and it all turned around.

Being broke certainly limits the type of opportunity you can invest in, but there's always something.

[schnitzelstoat]

> Being broke certainly limits the type of opportunity you can invest in, but there's always something.

Always? It's not a law of physics...