There may be some bias in the Reddit thread, which is admittedly slanted toward sofware/tech startups, but I also draw on some other sources. The book "The Millionaire Mind," Thomas Stanley looked at a variety of wealthy people and found that many who accumulated wealth did so through their own (often mundane) businesses. Others were those with high-income jobs and enough sense to invest wisely.
The Forbes list also seems to contain those who largely built or somehow own (through purchase, birth or connections) business equity.
My personal experience confirms this. Those I know who seem to have legitimate wealth are a junkyard owner, a used tire store owner, an owner of an electrician outfit, an owner of a financial services company, and a couple of doctors who've invested well. Oh, and a retired NFL player who also didn't blow his cash while he played.
There is luck in getting a new business to take off, for sure. I'm not trying to downplay the risks, but I am trying to show that there is a key to how those that made it did so.
One could also have born to Sam Walton or a Hilton or something like that. But keep in mind that those parents made their wealth building businesses.
If someone knows of a better way to do it, or other ways, I'm all ears. Winning the lottery works for so few, that I'm inclined to consider it negligible.
>"The book "The Millionaire Mind," Thomas Stanley looked at a variety of wealthy people and found that..."
I haven't read that book, but it sounds like survivorship bias. Eg, there were likely many others who also owned businesses who failed to accumulate enough wealth to make it into his sample of the 'wealthy'.
Question is, what is the proportion of those business owners to the ones who end up wealthy?
For example, it could just be that getting rich has more to do with living way below your means and saving alot early in your career, giving you money to invest and long enough horizon for that investment to pay off, regardless whether you invest in your own business, the financial markets, your education, etc.
But research like that will never answer the question correctly if it only looks at sample of 'survivors'.
Yes, the survivors are the ones who accumulated wealth. If there are other paths to accumulating wealth, they should have survived as well, but aren't apparent in the sources I've seen so far.
There are many businesses that fail and people who've lost money on equity in businesses. It's by no means a sure-fire way to become wealthy. But from what I've seen it's the main method that makes it to the "wealth" finish line at all.
What other paths have lead to "survivors" on the road to wealth? There may well be paths other than what I've proposed. Feel free to share them with me.
The Forbes list also seems to contain those who largely built or somehow own (through purchase, birth or connections) business equity.
My personal experience confirms this. Those I know who seem to have legitimate wealth are a junkyard owner, a used tire store owner, an owner of an electrician outfit, an owner of a financial services company, and a couple of doctors who've invested well. Oh, and a retired NFL player who also didn't blow his cash while he played.
There is luck in getting a new business to take off, for sure. I'm not trying to downplay the risks, but I am trying to show that there is a key to how those that made it did so.
One could also have born to Sam Walton or a Hilton or something like that. But keep in mind that those parents made their wealth building businesses.
If someone knows of a better way to do it, or other ways, I'm all ears. Winning the lottery works for so few, that I'm inclined to consider it negligible.