Go take risks

The biggest risk is not doing anything

Hey everybody, just wanted to say hi and remind you to take risks. GO

Taking risks isn't what they've told you. You can take huge risks without ever losing.

This called assymmetric risk 🔥

With symmetric risk, you either lose 1 or win 1.

With assymetric risks, you either lose 1 or win 100.

The goal is to do more things with "Big Reward" and "Small Risk".

Here's a list of 5 Low Risk, High Reward Opportunities everyone should know 👇

1. Building a Startup

Why building a startup is worth it:

Risks:
- Not making money for 1 or 2 years
- Losing other career opportunities (where typically you could make some money, but not really a lot)
- Not being able to succeed and having to close the startup after a couple of years

Potential rewards:
- Having a 6 figure exit (the average startup exit value in 2023 was at €23m)
- Developing unique high value skills and becoming an industry thought leader
- Advancing years in your career

The risks are really low compared to the potential upside. Even having failed, having built a startup could put you in a better situation than if you had followed a traditional career path.

2. Moving to a great city

Great cities attract ambitious people - Paul Graham

3. Creating on Social Media

Creating on social media is the easiest way to create a competitive advantage:

Risks:
- Dedicating time
- Not getting traction
- Getting attention from ill-intended people (haters)
- Cringe from people when you are starting ("you are going to ruin your personal brand")

Potential regards:
- Exposing your product/ideas at scale
- Getting access to interesting people thanks to the audience
- Growing your business
- Connecting with people that think similarly to you
- Actually building a personal brand

It's actually a no-brainer, if you are building a business the easiest way to get it seen by potential customers is social media.

4. Building in Public 🌍

Risks:
- Time consuming
- Being more exposed (if the company doesn't work it feels disappointing)
- Haters (again)

Rewards:
- Creating a community of potential customers that love you product, give you feedback, share it with other potential customers and support you

5. Angel Investing

While Angel Investing may seem risky, the potential for high rewards often outweighs the initial investment.

Some of the most successful angel investments:

1. Google (Larry Page and Sergey Brin):
- Angel Investor: Andy Bechtolsheim
- Investment: $100,000 in 1998
- Return: Bechtolsheim’s $100,000 investment was worth approximately $1.7 billion when Google went public in 2004.

2. Facebook (Mark Zuckerberg):
- Angel Investor: Peter Thiel
- Investment: $500,000 in 2004
- Return: Thiel’s $500,000 investment grew to about $1 billion after Facebook’s IPO in 2012.

3. Uber (Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp):
- Angel Investor: Chris Sacca
- Investment: $300,000 in early 2010
- Return: Sacca’s $300,000 investment was worth approximately $1.2 billion when Uber went public in 2019.

4. Airbnb (Brian Chesky, Joe Gebbia, and Nathan Blecharczyk):
- Angel Investor: Greg McAdoo
- Investment: Early personal investment
- Return: McAdoo’s early investment saw valuations multiply, with Airbnb valued at over $100 billion during its 2020 IPO, translating to significant returns for early backers.

5. WhatsApp (Jan Koum and Brian Acton):
- Angel Investor: Jim Goetz
- Investment: Early personal investment
- Return: WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook for $19 billion in 2014, making Goetz’s early investment worth approximately $3 billion.

6. Instagram (Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger):
- Angel Investors: Steve Anderson and others
- Investment: Early angel investments
- Return: Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion in 2012, yielding substantial returns for early investors like Anderson, turning his $250,000 investment into an estimated $78 million

7. Twitter (Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams):
- Angel Investor: Chris Sacca
- Investment: $25,000 in early rounds
- Return: Sacca’s $25,000 investment grew to an estimated $1.2 billion when Twitter went public in 2013.

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Bonus: Taking risks got me invited to San Francisco for free

If this made you excited about taking risks, go share it with one of your friends building something 🔥