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<p>Uh, no, the median position is NOT meaningful. After all, you brought up the notion of ‘expected value’. Expected value is, by definition, the AVERAGE. The expected value of entrepreneurship is high, because like I said, the winners win so much as to compensate for all of the losers. </p>
<p>What YOU are talking about with regards to the median is risk. And that’s exactly what I am talking about too: that the best time to take risk is when you are young. </p>
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<p>Actually, strictly speaking, yes, they are broke. Note, they won’t be broke for long. But at that moment in time, they are broke. </p>
<p>But besides, this is not germane to the point of contention anyway. The point is, when you’re young, you can afford to take risks. If you join a startup (or create your own) when you’re young, and it fails, you have the rest of your life to make up the difference. But at least you tried. </p>
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<p>And I am saying that these positions are not exclusive of each other. If you have an idea while you’re still a student, there is very little cost in dropping out to try the idea out. If the idea fails, you just go right back to school and get that degree. Furthermore, you’re probably going to know in a relatively short period of time (i.e. a year) whether your idea is gaining traction or is just a waste of time. But if your idea succeeds, then you won’t need the degree.</p>
<p>In other words, dropping out of school for a startup doesn’t mean that you’re forgoing a degree forever. You always have the option of going back. Nobody says that you have to go through school all the way straight through. Plenty of people withdraw and then return. Hence, the cost of trying out an idea is quite low.</p>