[aortega]

It's amazing how you people really believe all this. I don't mean to offend anyone, but I hate when people think of themselves a beautiful butterfly. Common people, employees, plumbers, etc. also have ideas, also have "bold blindness", they also have a willingness to create from nothing (who think created the thousands of open-source apps that are part of GNU and/or Linux, entrepeneurs?) is not that what separates you from them. You have disposable money and instead of a nice boat or car you put it in a business. And you know how to talk people into putting money in your idea, and you probably live in a country so terribly full of money that people are willing to risk it. That's it. Unless you are an entrepeneur living in some hellhole african country, in that case, respect to you, bold african entrepeneur.

[krschultz]

Success or failure has a large component of luck that people don't like to acknowledge. Especially counter-factual luck. My parents are very lucky to never have had to deal with serious illness, injury, accident, etc. I'm sure if there was a terrible car accident that killed my family, I wouldn't exactly be as focused on my work and therefore less 'succesful' as an entrepreneur.

But there is an element of uniqueness to dive into the entrepreneurship game at all. Plenty of people have ideas and do nothing at all with them. If you don't actually dive into it, quit your job, and work at it, it's impossible to build a business. Most people (the vast majority) don't have the balls to do that.

Hard work and taking that risk are necessary but insufficient conditions for entreprenurial success. You also need luck. But that doesn't discount the amount of risk taken or the amount of work put into it, and most people can't stomach that.

[aortega]

I agree with all you said, but consider that humans in general are terrible at estimating risk. I believe being an entrepeneur is not that risky, and being an employee is not that safe either. The main problem that I see about seeing entrepeneurship as unnaturally bold, risk-takers, creative intelligent people, is that you dehumanize the no-entrepeneur person, in such a way that's very easy to exploit them, because, they are like cattle, non-risk takers, and deserve it, right?

[swombat]

Funnily enough, I covered exactly this point in an earlier article, though this one wasn't so popular with the hn crowd..

http://swombat.com/2012/6/18/entrepreneurship-safest-career

[kator]

I agree.. I often say the real talent is being in the right place at the right time. Sadly that's not always an option and sometimes it's hard work that helps even the odds.

[j_baker]

Whether I agree with you depends upon your definition of "you people". HN certainly has its fair share of startup circle jerkery and idealization, but the grandparent didn't come off as being a part of that. Rather, it sounds like they were just trying to share their experiences on the subject of the OP.

[kator]

What's is a amazing is I started my first business with $486.00 in the bank. Don't berate people because you don't understand how it's done. Several of my companies were partnerships with other people for funding.

As bedris quoted: "[the] definition of an entrepreneur is someone who makes things happen despite not controlling the resources necessary to achieve them."

It's not always about rich people having fun.. most of the time it's about people following their passion and pushing every limit to make stuff happen.

And most of the time it's about complete and utter failure and learning from that so you do better the next time. :-)

[nuaccnt]

Resentment won't help your cause, whatever it is.

[saraid216]

Why the diss on Africa?

[aortega]

I wanted to make an example of a poor place. I know it was not potically correct, and a generalization.

[saraid216]

It's not factually correct.

[drx]

It's not as zero-sum as you seem to imply.