Startups are morale boosters for our economic self-image. The entrepreneurs behind them are like lottery winners and gold prospectors combined: self-made but lucky, glamorous but hardworking, delusionally optimistic by definition. They inspire movies (The Social Network) and television shows (ABCâ??s Shark Tank and Bravoâ??s Start-Ups: Silicon Valley). In February of this year, Mayor Bloombergâ??whose Twitter bio lists â??Entrepreneurâ? first and â??Mayor of New York Cityâ? secondâ??launched yet another initiative to lure startups to New York, holding his press conference at BuzzFeedâ??s Flatiron district office.
But all of this celebration is disproportionate to startup success rate.
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