Paul Graham: Don’t Die, You Get Rich
on Sunday, January 24, 2016Paul Graham Money Quotation saying if a startup can avoid collapse after getting funding, it usually succeeds in growing wealthy. Paul Graham said:
“If you can just avoid dying, you get rich. That sounds like a joke, but it’s actually a pretty good description of what happens in a typical startup” — Paul Graham
In this quote, Paul Graham is suggesting that the path to getting rich through starting a company is simply about surviving long enough for the business to succeed and become profitable. He acknowledges it may sound like a joke to say that avoiding death leads to wealth, but it captures the reality that most startups face significant challenges to stay in business during the early years.
If founders can just keep their startup operating and avoid having it fail or shut down, even if it is a struggle financially, they position themselves to eventually “get rich” if the business endures and thrives over the long run.
The quote emphasizes how high-risk and difficult starting a company can be initially, but that persevering through the challenges to avoid failure is often enough to attain great financial success if the startup ultimately prospers.