You need bills covered before you can take real entrepreneurial risks. The speaker uses an oxygen mask metaphor: secure basic financial stability first, then consider bets that might take years to pay off. A modest reserve of several million dollars makes long-term, high-risk ventures actually feasible.
It's very difficult to have a vision when you have bills to pay this month. And so sometimes it's— and like I say this to say, like, it is okay in my opinion to like put your oxygen mask on, know that you got enough money, like feed your family, feed your kid, whatever you're gonna do so that you can actually take a real bet. It's very hard to say, I'm like, you have to have an enormous risk tolerance to say, I will literally bet everything, my life, my kids for an idea that will take 10 years that might not work. Easier, still a hard bet, but much easier when you're like, I've got a few million bucks put away and I'm okay. And now I'm willing to take the long road.
