Every third world country I have been too is filled with entrepreneurs hustling to make a buck. Having money helps with big scale business; having no money means you are buying a bag of oranges and selling them off individually on the street corner.
I do not come from a family with money. I grew up below the poverty line in fact. This article is crap. It is like saying "Entrepreneurs are all white males" because a lot of entrepreneurs are - but it marginalizes all the people, the many many people, who have succeeded as entrepreneurs despite starting from a very small seed (and who weren't white males of privilege).
I have a company because I couldn't imagine working for someone else. I have tried a couple times for a few months, but in the end I can't do it. So I work for myself, and have for 25 years. I start companies because I can't not do it. I have too many ideas, and I want to see if they work so I do little experiments that sometimes turn into viable projects.
While I agree I can't take on Tesla unless I had a spare billion laying around, that ignores that there are lots of businesses that can be started for a few dollars. This article ignores all of those business too. Not every business has to be the next Uber.
I'm not sure this article is trying to down play successful ventures from non-stereotypical entrepreneurs but it's making the argument that that the image of the bold, risk taking entrepreneur might not be so accurate in the sense that that aren't really risking that much.
It doesn't say that all successful entrepreneurs are white, male and privileged. It just says that a lot of them are and that the largest indicator was being white, male and privileged.
This comic does an excellent job of summing it up:
I understand this issue perfectly. In the referenced comic strip, I am Paula on the right and my children are on the left side.
What is left out in that strip, is that because of the way I grew up, I am left with a drive to accomplish things that I simply do not see in my own children. The hunger, the drive, the ambition are all from a crappy childhood. The drive is where my success came from, it is what gets me off the floor when life knocks me down. It is the drive that provides the "I refuse to lose" mentality.
I don't claim that this drive is all good. A lot of times I think it makes me a little obsessive and crazy in my need to succeed and reduces the number of days I relax.
I do not come from a family with money. I grew up below the poverty line in fact. This article is crap. It is like saying "Entrepreneurs are all white males" because a lot of entrepreneurs are - but it marginalizes all the people, the many many people, who have succeeded as entrepreneurs despite starting from a very small seed (and who weren't white males of privilege).
I have a company because I couldn't imagine working for someone else. I have tried a couple times for a few months, but in the end I can't do it. So I work for myself, and have for 25 years. I start companies because I can't not do it. I have too many ideas, and I want to see if they work so I do little experiments that sometimes turn into viable projects.
While I agree I can't take on Tesla unless I had a spare billion laying around, that ignores that there are lots of businesses that can be started for a few dollars. This article ignores all of those business too. Not every business has to be the next Uber.