[ef4]

While it is risky, I think that the average person overestimates the risk of entrepreneurship and underestimates the risk of being an employee. There's a cultural inertia that still hasn't caught on to the fact that the equation has shifted.

Entrepreneurship is still risky, but it is much less risky today than ever before because the costs (of coordinating people, promoting an idea, distributing information and products, even manufacturing, etc) are lower than ever.

Meanwhile the risks of being an employee are higher than ever. Job security is steadily eroding for many people because of rapidly evolving technology and globally integrated markets.

I'm not saying everyone should be an entrepreneur, but I do think everyone needs to learn to think like an entrepreneur. Even an employee is a business of one, and they'll sink or swim based on how well they choose their market (employer), tailor their product (skills) to that market, and promote their brand (reputation).

(Also keep in mind that "entrepreneurship" is a much bigger category than the typical hacker-news-worthy startup. There is a wide continuum of risk and reward.)