Comment by WalterBright 3 days ago
If you don't want to take the risk, then don't do it. But criticizing others who do take the risk, and succeeded, isn't fair.
A general rule is the more risk you're willing to take, the more potential for gain.
> I am criticizing the idea that all it takes is “grit” and if you work really hard you will succeed.
Ok, but I did not suggest that.
Working hard is not good enough. It's necessary to work at the right things - and it is hardly obvious which are the right things. Taking risks is also necessary. The bigger the risks, the bigger the potential gains.
But nothing is guaranteed.
Spending one's youth playing video games diminishes your chances of financial success to around zero.
Someone working in BigTech making over a quarter million a year less than 3 years out of college has a much better chance of success and playing video games after working 8 hours a day 5 days a week than a “founding engineer” or even a founder of yet another YC backed AI company doing “996”.
I am criticizing the idea that all it takes is “grit” and if you work really hard you will succeed.
Thought experiment: 10 people out of college take “huge risks and work really hard”. A second set of 10 people just get boring enterprise Dev jobs and the third set all work in BigTech for 10 years. Rank the three groups in the order of expected median total income over the decade?