I'll paraphrase Peter Drucker: the job of an entrepreneur or businessman is risk management and risk elimination. The goal is to limit and kill risk, not pretend it's not there. Entrepreneurs are properly risk killers.
A lot of this is rather crazy, logically speaking. That is, the author constantly contradicts himself.
Like this: "Watching your savings dwindle isn't a risk, it’s a fact." That's nonsensical. Just because it's a fact, doesn't mean it's not a risk.
Or saying that there is no risk. There is risk in every single thing you do your entire life: you're 'gambling' with time constantly, and time is your life currency, it's always running out, how you spend it is a risk based equation.
If someone spends 30 years of their life on ten startups, and none of them work, how'd that risk equation work out? The business survival odds say that it's very easy to do ten startups and have all of them fail.
Lost time is an extraordinarily expensive proposition. You can never get it back, and you get one life to live. There's no greater risk in life than wasting time. The author says that it's not a waste because you're learning; that's not always true first of all (people often repeat mistakes), and second that only matters if some day that knowledge pays off (and that's a massive risk variable).
"you can build an incredible network"
"can" = risk variable. The potential for something to happen is not a guarantee, which means there's risk there.
The entire article is filled full of proofs for there being tons of risk in starting a business.
I get it -- everything is a risk. Even more reason to start a company and give it a shot. You may get struck by lightning tomorrow.
I'm not such a "ra ra" kind of guy to say, "everyone should go start a company tomorrow, and you'll all win." But on the flip side for those people that want to take a shot - it's the time to do it. The "risks" that you think exist, around money and failure aren't really risks. Even "lost time" isn't in my mind a risk. Don't get caught (as I mention in another comment) running a zombie company though...
The currency is time we all agree on that, but if it is repaid in happiness I don't think you are wasting your life... Money coming from success should just be a bonus, if someone think otherwise it's clearly a bad bet for him and he is not doing what he likes.
So I agree with you, just do what makes you happy and you'll live a good life.
A lot of this is rather crazy, logically speaking. That is, the author constantly contradicts himself.
Like this: "Watching your savings dwindle isn't a risk, it’s a fact." That's nonsensical. Just because it's a fact, doesn't mean it's not a risk.
Or saying that there is no risk. There is risk in every single thing you do your entire life: you're 'gambling' with time constantly, and time is your life currency, it's always running out, how you spend it is a risk based equation.
If someone spends 30 years of their life on ten startups, and none of them work, how'd that risk equation work out? The business survival odds say that it's very easy to do ten startups and have all of them fail.
Lost time is an extraordinarily expensive proposition. You can never get it back, and you get one life to live. There's no greater risk in life than wasting time. The author says that it's not a waste because you're learning; that's not always true first of all (people often repeat mistakes), and second that only matters if some day that knowledge pays off (and that's a massive risk variable).
"you can build an incredible network"
"can" = risk variable. The potential for something to happen is not a guarantee, which means there's risk there.
The entire article is filled full of proofs for there being tons of risk in starting a business.