[hippee-lee]

Not playing it safe doesn't mean you don't have a back up plan, right? Why does it have to be all one way or the other? The finance folks on Wall Street take big risks that get lots of press when they fail but they or their parent company also mitigate the risk.

I'm not an entrepreneur, maybe a wanna be which is why I keep choosing start ups to work for. What I am curious about is why there is so much resistance to a balanced approach that doesn't require you to go all in without a plan for mitigating the risk your are taking on.

I totally get not playing it safe, all the big names in tech seem to have done this and made fu money. But I'm not that smart and even less connected. (I suspect most folks on here lack the connections that the big names in tech had before they made their $ - I could very well be mistaken about this and it's importance to starting up and striking a jackpot) so, I don't get not having a plan that looks at the long term consequences for all the potentail outcomes and plans accordingly.

I'm really interested in your feedback on this if you have the time.

[JoeAltmaier]

Having a backup plan means planning to go back. It means holding something back from your effort. Its much harder to win big when you're not committed, when you haven't committed all of your resources to win where you're at.

All sorts of schemes are possible; its not a no-brainer that a balanced approach is the best for everyone. In fact I'm certain its not.

[JoeAltmaier]

I tell the fable: you can swim, you're at the beach surfing and diving and splashing around. A big ship goes by, full of passengers, leaning over the rail. They're yelling something at you. Paddling over you hear "Get out of the water! Its wet in there! You're getting soaked! I hear there can be sharks! Maybe it'll rain or something!"

You try to tell them "It's ok, I can swim. If it rains I can go back on the beach for a while. There aren't any sharks here, at least not now. "

But they don't listen, they sail on.

See what I did there? The corporate employees can only see the risks, and greatly overestimate the danger. The swimmers (entrepreneurs) can't really convey how normal it is to them, to be swimming in those waters, to actually enjoy it.

This conversation happens a lot, where someone comfortable in their career can't conceive of jumping overboard and trying anything else. There's not a lot you can say, coming from such different points of view.

[hippee-lee]

I'm not sure what the moral of you story is?

Is it not possible that you can spend all your money/time/effort chasing a lotto ticket and never have the winning numbers or even numbers that can support you when you get a curveball in life? Is it not possible that your opinions or your life circumstances could change enough that you need something more than a lotto ticket?

[JoeAltmaier]

Moral: its possible to live a life just as comfortably 'pursuing the lottery ticket' as in a corporate job. You call it a lotto ticket; I call it my job. Sail on, compadre, sail on.

[hippee-lee]

I don't sail, but I do surf in the rain. So i'll do that ;-)

I would just hate for someone in their early 20's to not even consider all their alternatives. There is quite an intense sentiment online that corporate life is a dead end. I left the corporate world almost 10 years ago and am on my 5th start-up I guess, I'm not sure how to judge them any more but my 'career' is the high risk / higher reward whilst my wives is the aggressive mutual fund to use a poor analogy. When I had a health issue several years ago, without her insurance it would have been devastating and none of the start ups I have worked at since leaving BigCo have had health insurance that would have helped.

My point in carrying on in this discussion is that one should carefully consider all the possible outcomes and adjust plans accordingly. And selling the next generation on the defacto certainty that if they keep trying to start up they will be ok is a dis-service to them just because it works for you.

Anyway, I said what I said and now i'll go to the beach even though its not raining.

[hippee-lee]

For me, having a backup plan means when 10-15 years on into the startup career and the tenth startup doesn't work out and shuts it's doors, I have a foundation in place that means I'm not starting from ground zero or hoping that the next startup is a lottery ticket that pays off.

Also, the backup plans I envision involve more than one person and I realize that working with your partner isn't an option for everyone.