If you want to talk about base rates of business failure in general, then according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years.
Crypto, like every industry, has a long-tail distribution of a few big players and many many small start-ups. The small start-ups do have a high failure rate, but I’m not sure that the rates are higher than for businesses in general, or tech start-ups in general. And the small start-ups (like FTX) can often grow extremely big in terms of revenues and valuations, long before they grow established in terms of corporate governance, checks and balances, corporate culture, and maturity of leadership.
I guess EA fund-raising could focus only on soliciting money from huge, long-established corporations with deep pockets, proven business models, media connections, and heavy political influence. But that might raise all kinds of other conflicts of interest.
If you want to talk about base rates of business failure in general, then according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open, 45% during the first five years, and 65% during the first 10 years.
Crypto, like every industry, has a long-tail distribution of a few big players and many many small start-ups. The small start-ups do have a high failure rate, but I’m not sure that the rates are higher than for businesses in general, or tech start-ups in general. And the small start-ups (like FTX) can often grow extremely big in terms of revenues and valuations, long before they grow established in terms of corporate governance, checks and balances, corporate culture, and maturity of leadership.
I guess EA fund-raising could focus only on soliciting money from huge, long-established corporations with deep pockets, proven business models, media connections, and heavy political influence. But that might raise all kinds of other conflicts of interest.
More specifically, it was insane for EA to stake so much money on something that could wipe out your entire value.