Friends, Family and Foundations

A lot of businesses start with a form of nepotism which could also just be called pragmatism. Friends or family who trust each other, and have some driving reason they are prepared to work for less than they would “just getting a job”. The most successful business person I have worked with said it took him seven years to earn what he was earning before, “at a job”. That is after survivorship bias. Most small businesses fail. Self-identified Meritocracy rewards Executive Management ridiculously well, ignoring the years of sweat investment in getting the machine going. The marginal decision gets one sided credit (things going wrong aren’t symmetrically punished) and ignores the leverage of the institution building that has come before. The most pragmatic path seems to be to hop on the gravy train of lopsided meritocracy until you have enough of a buffer, and a few mates you trust. Then you can have a crack at going it on your own. That is what we call “self-made”.

Thankless but Important