Thanks!

kh

I think where we’re in agreement is the fallacy behind “either – or” logic. You don’t need to avoid holding jobs and only go the entrepreneurial route. On the other hand just because you have a job doesn’t mean that you can’t find other ways to secure your career/financial future. For some it’s entrepreneurial, for others it’s pure investments.

I thought I’d leave behind a few comments since your post made my head explode.

I generally don’t take the time to write lengthy comments to blog posts, but as one who has recently quit his job in order to be my own boss, I felt it may be worth a few minutes to express my point of view.

First, I have to agree anyone who suggests that working a job is stupid is, well, stupid. A job is a fantastic way to bring in money and to provide for immediate needs. Jobs are also a great way to learn various skills or trades. And, they are also semi-predictable.

I also think you are absolutely correct in stating that many of the rags to riches success stories have happened to those that had first mover advantages. I’ll even one up that by saying that many of these “successes” made their money, not by practicing what they are preaching, but by selling the system. (Two Dads, anyone?)

I do, though, absolutely think trading time for money is inferior, particularly when one takes the long-term view.

The most important reason trading time for money is not a good long-term strategy is that it doesn’t scale. You can only work so many hours in a day, and you can only realistically increase your hourly salary by so much.

But even if this equation does provide for your needs adequately, you’d better love what you do; otherwise, you’re in for a long forty-year grind.

That is, of course, if you actually make it the full 40 years.

During the 12 years I worked in corporate America, I saw an alarming increase in the number of people that were pushed out at an age too young to retire but too old to have much of a chance of starting somewhere else. I’d rather trade short-term insecurity for long-term security, rather than the other way around.

Your point about working long hours while self-employed is certainly correct. But I find it much easier to work long and crazy hours when I’m building an asset for myself rather than for a corporate entity that may or may not appreciate what I’ve done next year. If I work until 5 AM, it’s going to be because I choose to, not because I’m required to.

And, even though I’ve worked for the stereotypical boss from hell, what was far more draining for me was the ever increasing amount of time required to respond to corporate randomness. For me, it was mental torture to write a report that my boss wanted which I knew no one would read.

I think your point about job insecurity is correct. But that only applies for the short term. Again, I’ve seen far too many people not quite make it to the finish line in corporate life. One person I knew got downsized and went from product developer to medical supply truck driver to make ends meet.

Yes, you will fail as an entrepreneur. But I believe it is much safer to fail as an entrepreneur than to fail in the corporate world. When building a business (as Mark Cuban said) you only have to be right once.

Finally, while I think it is wrong for somebody to bank all of their hopes on a purchased pushbutton entrepreneurial system, I do think that provides people an opportunity to get their feet wet so that they can then iterate until they find that niche where they can then be the first mover.

I guess I can summarize all of this as follows: Working a job isn’t stupid, but NOT building some sort of entrepreneurial niche for yourself is!

Okay . . . My head feels better now.