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by byrneseyeview 6351 days ago
I didn't notice that. He went to a good school and got a good job, but I don't think he inherited either.

And in a sense, it's more inspiring, since he's giving up a six-figure job to start something new, while most of us would be giving up significantly less.
2 comments
alaskamiller 6351 days ago
Not to comment on this particular incident since I don't know Taggar, but I completely disagree.

Someone with good job prospects--be it through education or pedigree-- giving up a high paying job to be an entrepreneur isn't relinquishing their management of risk. They can always get another high paying job.

A kid that has nothing to begin with and turned it into something. That is inspiring. That is why rags to riches is a literary device.

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byrneseyeview 6351 days ago
A kid that has nothing to begin with and turned it into something. That is inspiring. That is why rags to riches is a literary device.

I suspect, but cannot prove, that people who start startups are those who could succeed in other fields, but turn down the steady paycheck for the chance to do their own thing. There certainly are people who started a company because Microsoft wouldn't hire them, but there are plenty more who were hired by Microsoft and realized that they could capture more of the benefits of what they were doing if they set out on their own. Rags-to-riches is a literary device because big-paycheck to big-IPO-payday is not quite so compelling -- and because there's a bigger audience of people who want to believe, and want to be told to believe, that they can succeed despite prior failures.

They can always get another high paying job.

But they can't get back the time they lost, and when that time is worth six figures with a high growth rate, that's a huge cost. In one of his essays, Paul Graham made the point that starting a startup is just barely more expensive than being unemployed -- the flip side of which is that it's not such a huge risk to start one, if you're unemployed. If you do have a job, it's more of a sacrifice.

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babul 6350 days ago
Six-figures is often base for a graduate London trader.

Many of them earn a LOT more than that after a couple of years, even now, even with bonuses having been cut back due to the current financial crisis.

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