Entrepreneurs don’t have a special gene for risk—they come from families with money

[CapitalforCapital]

I agree with the main premise of the article that those who come from means are more likely to be successful entrepreneurs. However the premise is not entirely true. Like some have mentioned in the thread how many people are actually offering unique or one if a kind services to their field of choice, my guess is not many. It truly takes mastery of your skill or an interesting product to win the game of entrepreneurship. And as much as society makes it seem like money is a controlling factor, the people who get there will get there, money or not. Their is no school for entrepreneurship it is mostly instinct obsession with a certain problem or group of problems, an individualist mindset and sacrifice. You have to literally sell your soul to your profession to be a successful entrepreneur. No friends, no real familial connections, no sex and 99% of people aren't willing to do this. If the lives of entrepreneurs were payed onto the eyes of many prospective entrepreneurs many would reconsider claiming that title.

 

[CapitalforCapital]

And let's be honest many of these businesses are just vanity projects/ lemonade stands that fail within the first couple years before they work for daddy's company. They're not entrepreneurs...just bored.

 

[Lord_Chief_Rocka]

I'm an entrepreneur and my family broke as fukk...I just started my business.... wtf is op talking about???

You're one person

 

[Robbie3000]

File this under Duh.

Of course if you are lucky enough to have a strong safety net, you would be willing to take chances. Whereas if you don't, you may take that corporate gig that offers more security than starting a business.

Most importantly, I would assume you have much better access to capital.

All things being equal, I don't see Bill Gates dropping out of Havard to start a business if he was some poor kid from the hood.

 

[EndDomination]

Do any of you live in the VC world? If you did, you'd know this is pretty much on point.

This.
There are middle and upper-middle class White kids with Ivy League backgrounds who still have to either receive a 1/100,000 chance or work insanely hard and still pray for a break to become "successful" entrepreneurs.
People in this thread have been servicing Ayn Rand on their knees for too long, "mentality" won't make you a successful entrepreneur, wealthy backing will

 

[EndDomination]

the article isn't breaking new ground or blowing anyone's mind. yes people born with means have more resources to start their business than those who don't. doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. in other news water is also wet.

but not every successful businessman/entrepreneur came from means.

The vast, vast majority did.
This article isn't saying "poor people can't be successful." It is literally saying the data shows that the common characteristics shared by wealthy/"successful" entrepreneurs are family wealth and elite connections.

 

[EndDomination]

Steve Jobs grew up in a low-income household with his adopted father being a high school dropout, lack of money was one of the reasons he dropped out of college after a semester.

More about opportunity, luck, and mindset. He had the mindset and happened to befriend Wozniak (who I assume had a similar upbringing) and Mike Markkula his angel investor. Consider yourself lucky if you get an angel investor to invest in your company

He also was given an intimate introduction to electronics and technologies by his father, was mentored and befriended numerous engineers, grew up in one of the most tech-heavy areas in the world at the dawn of the tech revolution, and he worked at HP as a teenager.
An angel investor is the equivalent to a wealthy parent giving you start-up money to be honest

 

[theworldismine13]

related thread

How I Learned to Take the SAT Like a Rich Kid

 

[TTT]

Wealth does give people access to opportunities, the trait aspect of entrepreneurship is interesting from a narrative standpoint but it tends to be over-determined. Some people like Bill Gates acknowledge the importance of being in the right place at the right time and also having access to computers when they were not viewed as a personal consumer product. In addition to the obvious opportunity cost involved in risk taking that differs based on wealth. A lot of things that seem "obvious" are not always apparent to people because when we read about entrepreneurs we tend not to get a lot of the other background stuff.