I wonder about the efficacy of directing hopeful youths into entrepreneurship. The median outcome for founders is basically poverty, which is not a problem for those who have less utility for money and more desire for independence and who want the freedom to pursue dreams. But the harsh reality is that you need to make money to survive and YC often funds founders before they have validated their economic opportunity. They also provide founders with all the kool-aid they need to justify unreasonable optimism. The cost of increasing the number of early-stage startups and directing a higher percentage of them towards positive outcomes is that it also increases the likelihood of the worst-case outcome: failing slowly. Maybe it's easier to find injections of money to keep petering along, and maybe the cost of failure feels higher. So founders pinch even tighter, constantly anticipating the train derailing making just enough money to hurl down new track in front of your engine. Just enough to survive, but not enough to thrive and go faster. Maybe it's a quixotic quest fighting for every inch to find customers, funding, and not really advancing technology or your product. There's some schadenfreude to seeing others around you fail, especially one's who have raised more funding than you. There's also some jealously when your founder-friends advance to greater wealth and maybe a little jealousy towards the risk-averse among your friends who stayed at Google for 4 years and can now angel invest in your next startup. You have some experience now and should do better this time, but you can't cash in your existential dread.
PG actually has a talk where he does advice young people that maybe starting a startup may not a good idea, at least not for everyone, because it's all consuming.
When they say go hard or go home, statistically entrepreneurs learn they will go home regardless.
The game, then becomes about staying alive as long as you can, by adding and creating value for others that lets you keep the doors open.
Either way, agreeing to put in more work than you may think it will take, is important, attitude has much to do with opportunity as luck and preparation.
