[acjohnson55]

"One thing that is not spoken about in the early-stage tech world is how many startup founders come from money or stability. I’m by no means saying this applies to all founders or early-stage startup employees. But if you dig a little, you will see the “risk” that some of these people are taking is not as risky as they may seem."

This is really true. The business risk may be very real, but the personal risk for many is relatively limited. For some people, going without a steady income is to truly be without a safety net and risk having to sleep in a shelter. For me, when I started my company, I went in knowing that if we ran out of money, I could get a nice dev job within a few weeks and not only bounce back, but bounce forward (or at least sideways). If things went really sour, I might even have to move back to my hometown for a couple months. Gasp!

In this world, agency is a privilege that's hard to measure. I feel like sometimes people underrate their own and mythologize their self-madeness, but overrate that of others and pathologize them as lazy or cowardly.

[austenallred]

Exactly. BBC wrote an article about that today: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23510961. Reality is you either have to be well off or kind of crazy.

[speeder]

That might explain why people act bizarre toward me when I say that I cannot risk moving now, or that I cannot buy x, or y, or cannot do z, because my life is too instable...

I have lots of debts, and the job market for programmers here in Brazil suck (ie: most job offers I had paid less than what I pay in my loans), if my startup crashes and burns, I will crash and burn too, I have no plan B, or C... it is just, it MUST work, otherwise I am screwed.

People do not understand that, and think I am nuts.

[7Figures2Commas]

> For me, when I started my company, I went in knowing that if we ran out of money, I could get a nice dev job within a few weeks and not only bounce back, but bounce forward (or at least sideways).

This thinking appears all too prevalent today. Yes, the market is currently hot and experienced, talented engineers can often find new employment in a matter of days or weeks.

But the market is not static and if you assume that you will always be able to find a decent new job in a short amount of time and that your worst case scenario only entails two months of little to no income, you're overestimating the strength of the market and underestimating your risk.

As I've noted before, this type of thinking was common in the first .com boom. Then the market shifted and a lot of talented people went from having six-figure job opportunities on tap to collecting unemployment.

Bottom line: your perceived viability in the current job market is not a true safety net. Cold hard cash is.

[emilyst]

Right. If I worked for a startup that went south, I'd be homeless.

[shortlived]

There are a lot of people who take for granted that they have a family/town to return to if things go really bad. I've got that safety net and appreciate it very much. My wife (before she met me) did not. It's taught me a lot and makes me cringe when people start talking about "risking it all".

[coolswan]

I think more so than this is that founders know that if they fail, they can land any great job they want.

[eli_gottlieb]

In this world, agency is a privilege that's hard to measure. I feel like sometimes people underrate their own and mythologize their self-madeness, but overrate that of others and pathologize them as lazy or cowardly.

It's a known tendency called the Fundamental Attribution Error.

[Ataub24]

+1000 thanks for the comment man.

[rfnslyr]

Life is infinitely easier when you know, at the end of the day, no matter how bad you fuck up you still have your parents to fall back on versus if you fuck up, you're on the street. It adds a whole new layer of privilege.

[JonFish85]

While that's true, I do wonder if there's a certain level of hunger that you get if you don't have your parents' wealth to fall back on, or a trust fund or whatever. Gonna make a "Dark Knight Rises" reference here, buckle up. During the escape scene from the prison-pit, Bruce Wayne only makes the jump once he takes off the rope and uses the fear of death to drive him. I wonder if that can be a motivator for some people.

[rfnslyr]

It is. I grew up in a bit of a different family. My grandparents are very wealthy.

My family does not transfer wealth. My Dad and my uncles are all self made men, the only thing they have to fall back on is the bed and food at their parents if things go south, not a cent of their money, and this has been made clear from their modest, even poor upbringing. No private schooling. No excessive tutoring, no special hires. You are dealt the same hand as everybody else. To my grandparents and parents, simple having FOOD and a free bed to fall back on is more than enough to alleviate any stress we have.

Everybody in my family works like dogs to reach my previous families wealth, and now it's the same for me. As soon as I was legal, my parents gave me $1000 for rent and food for the first two months of living on my own or I can return and pay them rent and still live under their rules.

While I'm not on the streets, the shame of having to return is a great driving force. The moment I moved out I didn't waste a second, I got to work, everyday, all day, because time was limited.

It is definitely a motivator.

[philwelch]

You have food and a free bed to fall back on. That's an immense safety net--exactly the kind of privilege we're talking about. And presumably that free bed is in some safe, comfortable suburb or at least the nicer part of the city, the food's not too bad either, and you can even take your MacBook home with you.

Some people don't have any living family members who can take them in. Both of my parents, all of my grandparents, and my only aunt are all dead. The rest of my family are people I don't know too well. I don't have the safety net you have. I've known immigrants who send most of their money back home to their parents. I know parents who have to support their own children.

Being young and childless with parents willing to take you in and feed you is a huge privilege and a massive safety net. Don't go around saying you're motivated because you don't have one.

[rfnslyr]

Absolutely and I am thankful for the chance my parents give me. However I wouldn't think of returning until I have truly exhausted every single opportunity in getting together cash to stay afloat.

>Don't go around saying you're motivated because you don't have one.

Not a chance, I recognize my gifts and it motivates me even more.

[graeme]

That's all well and good. But the point is, your downside risk is still limited, compared to someone who will be on the streets if they fail.

I always knew I could move back home if my work failed. This really helped me take risks in the early stages. I was pretty sure they'd pay off, but I knew I would have the opportunity to recover if things went sour.