I'm surprised at the comments here stating "Cry me a river, these yuppies got what they deserved."
Are you the same people saying, "Way to go! Good luck!" whenever someone posts here on HN that they're quitting their job to do a startup? What's the difference between a kid who quits college to make the next social network and a lawyer who quits the firm to open an ice cream shop? The aspirations may be different, but both are just trying to follow a dream.
I'm actually glad that the NYT is posting a somewhat realistic article for once. They usually just print dreck about some guy with an idea who makes an iPhone app over the weekend and wakes up to millions.
One quibble with the article, though: the author does not connect the dots that focusing on (more or less) luxury consumer items is a risky proposition (especially during a recession).
I also followed my dream and owned a coffee shop. We focused on absolute excellence and did pretty well. I thought I knew what I was doing on the business side.
But then 2008 arrived and suddenly all that discretionary money just evaporated (in our market, anyway). It was humbling. We were not prepared, we didn't really understand our business model nor our market. What we thought was business savvy and prosperity was actually just dumb luck and it ran out.
In the years afterward, I discovered books like "The Four Steps to the Epiphany" and feel much better positioned. I feel for (and fear for) the people in the article who are starting "nice to have" consumer / luxury businesses (but I wish them the best of luck).
Income disparity is a characteristic of this economy, that means that the top 1% (i.e., not you and I) are benefiting at the expense of the bottom 99%. In a world in which that is the case, finding products that appeal to that top 1% is eminently sensible.
Are you the same people saying, "Way to go! Good luck!" whenever someone posts here on HN that they're quitting their job to do a startup? What's the difference between a kid who quits college to make the next social network and a lawyer who quits the firm to open an ice cream shop? The aspirations may be different, but both are just trying to follow a dream.
I'm actually glad that the NYT is posting a somewhat realistic article for once. They usually just print dreck about some guy with an idea who makes an iPhone app over the weekend and wakes up to millions.