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.

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.

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.

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...