they are closer in risk-neutral returns if one goes the entrepreneurial route
I would be very interested in some source for this where I could read about it in more detail.
If someone asked me, then based on a remark I came across at 80,000 Hours, my advice for choosing a high-earning career would now simply be to choose finance if your “ability” (mainly IQ) is sufficiently high and medicine if not.
Edit: It would probably be easier to find the info if I could read 80,000 Hours here in China...sigh.
It’s by no means a rock-solid conclusion. There are various data showing good returns, but not well matched to particular individuals’ ex ante prospects.
For example, the combined wealth of all technology billionaires firmly surpasses that of all finance billionaires, and if one looks at fortunes earned in the last several decades the disproportion is overwhelming.
The mean returns of venture-backed entrepeneurs are good (while the risk-adjusted returns look comparatively poor), but that’s a highly selected subset of entrepreneurs and startups (some discussion on 80000 hours).
The evidence for finance is more robust than for tech entrepreneurship (although 80,000 hours is trying to get a better picture).
I would be very interested in some source for this where I could read about it in more detail.
If someone asked me, then based on a remark I came across at 80,000 Hours, my advice for choosing a high-earning career would now simply be to choose finance if your “ability” (mainly IQ) is sufficiently high and medicine if not.
Edit: It would probably be easier to find the info if I could read 80,000 Hours here in China...sigh.
It’s by no means a rock-solid conclusion. There are various data showing good returns, but not well matched to particular individuals’ ex ante prospects.
For example, the combined wealth of all technology billionaires firmly surpasses that of all finance billionaires, and if one looks at fortunes earned in the last several decades the disproportion is overwhelming.
The mean returns of venture-backed entrepeneurs are good (while the risk-adjusted returns look comparatively poor), but that’s a highly selected subset of entrepreneurs and startups (some discussion on 80000 hours).
The evidence for finance is more robust than for tech entrepreneurship (although 80,000 hours is trying to get a better picture).