> Would you name some other ways to get rich with a reliability approaching that of starting a VC-funded startup?
Yes, just invest in a mutual fund. Overall VC returns are in line with the broader market at best, and are often worse. (Source: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2013/02/venture-capital-returns.html)
That refers to the returns of the venture capitalists, not the startup founders.
It makes no difference, because one must also account for every other failed startup the founders had or will participate in, along with other opportunity cost. In fact, the final ROI of VCs should be higher than the founders' because they get the bulk of the equity in exchange for their investment.
jwz, and Arrington's target audience, were startup employees, not founders.
He's telling you the story of, "If you bust your ass and don't sleep, you'll get rich" because the only way that people in his line of work get richer is if young, poorly-socialized, naive geniuses believe that story! Without those coat-tails to ride, VCs might have to work for a living. Once that kid burns out, they'll just slot a new one in.
Would you name some other ways to get rich with a reliability approaching that of starting a VC-funded startup?
The VCs may be in control, but at least it's a game that can be played. I'm not sure how it was disingenuous of Arrington to cite evidence of how hard jwz had to work. His point was that startups are hard. Jwz didn't seem to refute that, nor provide any hope of potentially escaping a lifetime of working for other people without doing a startup. Startup success is rare, but it seems more frequent than most of history has allowed.