I don't like how being an entrepreneur is glamorized these days.

People make you think that just starting a company will make you rich.

But we don't really pay attention to the hundreds of startups that fail each year. (And that could very well be you).

We only pay attention to those that do make it.

Because participation awards are not real life.

It's a lot of work.

WAY WAY more than you think when starting.

Example, my company (I'm one of 3 cofondateurs) :

Took us 6 years to reach 1 million in yearlly sales.

And it's not even good enough to pay all salaries.

Cloud cost more than you originaly think.

A lot of suprises along the way !

Until a couple years ago, the expected income from launching a startup was way higher than the expected income of most other ways to do business because lots of capital was dumped into the IT startup scene.

No doubt it's still a lot of work and a lot of people fail, but those who win win big. It feels more like a gold rush than anything else to be honest - and the biggest winners are of course shovel merchants; management software, cloud, and frameworks that prioritize rapid prototyping over sustainability.

I worked for two startups and both times the plan was just to get bought. I think it is better to actually start a business that provides value. (The former ones, didn't really)

I do daydream of building a website to keep track of dead products/startups.

StartupGraveyard

Been on the road a few times myself. It’s balls hard, but on the plus side you gain a ton of skills that your garden variety job would never give you

Failing as an entrepreneur is better than being a wagie. I respect them.

The "adventurous" life has been glorified since time immemorial.
The Romans called "emperor" any prick who would gather goods and return to Rome.
The Saxons of old had a word for those who would travel far and bring back riches even if by force - "viking"
The roots of the word "Arab" mean "those who wander through deserts and can be understood", glorifying nomads that could be reasoned and traded with.
Many of the English who moved over seas to new opportunities were often called "Americans" and were expected to send a hearty part of their good fortune back to England.

The historical examples have a similar note - it's all about bringing home the bacon. It makes evolutive sense - home gets richer beyond its local capabilities.
If some bloke or most croak while attempting it, well, home also have an over abundance of those. All you have to do is glorify the activity, and stroking an ego is quite cheap.

Betting on startups is similar to the stock market or crypto - people will look at companies and coins that are around now and go "Oh man I could've been part of that meteoric rise" but forget the the majority of coins and companies started are not around anymore since they died before anyone even heard of them.