Comment by yoz-y

Most attempts fail and if you get into debt you don’t get to try again.

I agree that it takes a special kind of person to try and try again, but it clearly is not for everyone.

A lot has to come together, you need to be alone, have a very supportive partner or be a sociopath (willing to drag your family down with you). You need to be in the right place (or have the means to move there). This usually works when you are young, so definitely having starting capital from somewhere works. This was much easier in the marking moments of technology where any simple tool or game could be transformed into cash. Nowadays you really need to luck out.

Europe has generally better safety net and much less entrepreneurship spirit for example. So it pushes both ways.

I guess one last thing is this weird thing in the US where investors somehow like people who previously failed. Like Elizabeth Holmes who reportedly went from prison right back into the game. With that environment of course it makes sense to just try again.