Re:A 24-Year-Old Built a $5B Hotel Startup in Five Years
by unethical_ban on Wednesday September 26, 2018 @08:28PM
(#18081356)
Not taking sides, but I think you're presenting a false dichotomy. I think the point of the OP was "This is like hitting the lottery and encouraging everyone to buy numbers".
Most people don't win the lottery, so don't ever expect this to happen to you, no matter how hard you try. Again, my interpretation, not opinion.
Re:A 24-Year-Old Built a $5B Hotel Startup in Five Years
by jacquesm on Thursday September 27, 2018 @03:09AM
(#18082570)
That is true. But if you don't try you will never win. For the lottery to have winners some people would have to play the lottery. Hence the 'luck' factor (often under-rated or people pretend it is all skill).
Re:A 24-Year-Old Built a $5B Hotel Startup in Five Years
by flashman on Wednesday September 26, 2018 @08:28PM
(#18081359)
don't forget:
- safety net in the form of a wealthy family
- business model based on rent-seeking
Re:A 24-Year-Old Built a $5B Hotel Startup in Five Years
by madeuptempacct on Wednesday September 26, 2018 @09:01PM
(#18081470)
The first one there is way more common than people think. The funny thing is that people will deny it vehemently.
When I got my first "real" job, I wondered how my coworkers, making less than me, were justifying their BMWs and Lexuses. Then I found out that they aren't dumb, they just have 10 million dollar trust funds and having a job is a pre-condition their grandparents set.
Re:A 24-Year-Old Built a $5B Hotel Startup in Five Years
by flashman on Wednesday September 26, 2018 @09:16PM
(#18081514)
Never underestimate the value of being able to forego VC and/or a salary. Allows bigger risks and upside, which combined with survivorship bias makes successful founders look like someone to emulate.
Re:A 24-Year-Old Built a $5B Hotel Startup in Five Years
by hndamien on Thursday September 27, 2018 @12:13AM
(#18082081)
The thing about the ability to take bigger risks is that it isn't very often noticed or acknowledged by the risk taker since it doesn't seem that apparent that there was a safety net that allowed the risk-taking. The risk taker feels that they would have done it anyway, whether or not that is true.
Re:A 24-Year-Old Built a $5B Hotel Startup in Five Years
by jpatokal on Wednesday September 26, 2018 @10:21PM
(#18081699)
Oyo's CEO was indeed "wealthy": so much so that he'd get a a whopping $4 in pocket money every month when in school. Better off than the average family in Orissa, sure, but not exactly trust fund territory.
https://www.livemint.com/Companies/7CN7u5d4i3bfYgBAZLdLpM/Wi...
Re:A 24-Year-Old Built a $5B Hotel Startup in Five Years
by mcphage on Wednesday September 26, 2018 @09:19PM
(#18081522)
> Keep your eyes open for opportunities, when you spot one work really hard at it and do not give up until you have exhausted every option. These ingredients are also present in just about every other success story.
Also in very many failure stories—far more than the number of success stories.
What do you want? A cut and paste ready business plan that will make you a billionaire?
Of course there is plenty here that is repeatable: Keep your eyes open for opportunities, when you spot one work really hard at it and do not give up until you have exhausted every option. These ingredients are also present in just about every other success story.
The fact that you do not see anything of value here is the heart of the problem, you could ask any entrepreneur out there that was ever moderately or more than moderately successful what made it work for them and you are likely going to hear a mix of very few elements:
- a good idea
- some luck
- good old elbow grease
- perseverance
- connections
You may have to weigh them differently on a case-by-case basis but that is a pretty good starting point.