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Take Asymmetric Bets - Erik Torenberg

eriktorenberg.substack.com · 1,488 words · saved by 2 readers

I previously wrote about how starting a company is less risky than people think. This piece is a follow up to that piece as well as my piece on building personal moats. To recap: remember, there’s two types of risks: Job Risk: the chance your job will no longer exist Career Risk: the chance your long-term career will be negatively affected Founding a company might have job risk, but it often has little career risk. It’s an example of an asymmetric bet—a bet that, if it works, will have tremendous upside, and if it doesn’t, will still generate optionality. I think the ways we’re taught to think about these concepts is backwards: we think something is risky (e.g. starting a company) when it actually buys optionality, and we think we’re buying optionality (e.g. joining Goldman Sachs) when we’re actually taking a big risk. In starting a company, we’re capping our downside—assuming the privilege to afford it—and in joining Goldman Sachs etc, we’re capping our upside. In short, I think the m

Take Asymmetric Bets My other favorite career advice Erik Torenberg Sep 28, 2020 288 18 46 Share I previously wrote about how starting a company is less risky than people think. This piece is a follow up to that piece as well as my piece on building personal moats. To recap: remember, there’s two types of risks: Job Risk: the chance your job will no longer exist Career Risk: the chance your long-term career will be negatively affected Founding a company might have job risk, but it often has little career risk. It’s an example of an asymmetric bet—a bet that, if it works, will have tremendous u

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