But VCs are not playing baseball. In baseball, a home run can get you no more than 4 runs, whereas the home runs the VCs are playing for can get you many many multiples of what would be considered a single.
That's what they say. They cite economic theory that higher risk bets return higher on average. The idea is less people can take them and so there is less competition.
This might be true - I don't have the data. But either do they as this is an impossible experiment to perform.
A smart investor though is going to diversify risks though. Some good solid, low risk but moderate return investments along with a higher risk strategy with a portion of the money.
Otherwise you have higher risks but no guarantee that you will be able to succeed across a trouble economic climate.
A better approach IMO is to diversify risks. One thing YC does that's kinda cool is a very small amount of investment combined with a sort of mentoring approach. I am not sure it is the right thing for my business, but I won't say it isn't occasionally under consideration.
