[souprock]

Yep.

An optimist: I could make a start-up and become a billionaire, or at least get $million/year at a FAANG.

A pessimist: I'd probably be sharing a studio apartment and eating dry dog food, or maybe even homeless like so many of the people there.

You see it outside of tech too, for example in acting. The optimist sees movie stars getting over $100,000,000 per movie, so they throw all their belongings in a duffel bag and take the next greyhound to Hollywood. The pessimist knows that most actors fail, with many working minimum wage or risking their health to make NSFW movies. Another place is sports, with the optimist focused on top players and the pessimist well-aware that most are lucky to end up as gym teachers.

So the optimist goes to the Bay Area, gambling his life, and the pessimist chooses a more reliable path in life.