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Ask HN: Why does everyone wants to be an entrepreneur?

9 points by hubraumhugo ↗ HN
Applications for new businesses rose 20 percent last year, YC applications more than doubled, and business schools report increased interest in entrepreneurship [0]. It looks like people are starting their businesses because the pandemic made them think that now is the right time to do it.

As a founder myself, I'm glad to see the soaring interest in entrepreneurship. But statistically, the majority of them will fail. An economic downturn could further accelerate this.

Why do you think so many people are currently starting businesses in spite of this high failure rate?

[0] https://www.wired.com/story/everyone-wants-be-entrepreneur/

12 comments

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verdverm
Entrepreneurship is freedom, sort of. I think a lot of people reevaluated their career and life during the pandemic and are deciding to do something different, more than this is the right time. There's also a lot of capital going around with the money printers going brrrrr.

People should always give it a shot if they understand the inherent risks. They'll likely regret not trying more than failing.

glanzwulf
I would say entrepreneurship is the new "American Dream".

It's the allure of being your own boss and having your own business. Some people are tired of answering to the CEO when they "easily" could be the CEO.

AnimalMuppet
From the outside, people see the payoff. They don't see the risk or the work. (At least, that's my guess.)
pettycashstash2
I worked extremely hard in corporate world. My take is it depends on the individual and their work ethics. At certain point one has to evaluate the cost/reward curve and corporate does not reward as much as entrepreneurship.
jimmyvalmer
For the same reason everyone thinks they're above-average drivers.

For my own part, I suck at politics so I knew I couldn't climb the ladder. Joke's on me because politics is even more important in starting your own thing.

rkk3
> politics is even more important in starting your own thing.

Dealing with people & their complicated emotions to build a high performance team certainly is more important. If you really found factionalism and office politics more important when building a company... that might be saying something about your experience (like perhaps you hadn't been a people manager before)

marceloabsousa
Since software developers (and then engineering managers) get outrageous salaries it has been easier for some of them to save up substantial amounts of money that allows them to try and build something from scratch.
aristofun
People have just fed up with meaningless corporate jobs.
SashaSirotkin
The barriers of entry are sufficiently low nowadays that starting a business is feasible for a lot more people. It takes less upfront capital (or skill with all the no-code options) than it has ever before to do so.

Plus, a major barrier to starting anything new is the inertia that your daily life already has. It's easiest to try bold new things when you're in a state of transition. The pandemic forced that transition involuntarily on a lot of people.

v1l
Starting anything is easy, it's the making something that's wanted and making it work successfully and profitably that's exceedingly hard. Most don't realize this until they've been punched in the face by the real world of startups (as yours truly has been).

Becoming your own boss is probably the worst reason to pursue entrepreneurship imho. Having a manager is wayyy easier, even if that means you have less control and autonomy.

But by all means, try...

cblconfederate
For some people having a manager is hard and gets harder every year, and it s a major motivator for pursuing becoming their own boss. It s not a bad reason
faangiq
The barrier to entry got much lower over the past 20 years. And the corporate climate got a lot worse. Poor pay for slave jobs. All part of the plan.