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What the blog author implies is that _being scrappy_ is a founder's greatest asset. Assuming we agree with this, then does being broke always lead to being scrappy? If yes, then I guess we could say being broke is, indirectly, a founder's greatest asset. If no, then the argument falls well short of being taken seriously. No one who is broke wants to be broke. And no one who is wealthy wants to be broke.

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I like the way you've put that. I certainly don't see being broke as a necessary condition of being scrappy, or driven. I don't see that being broke necessarily leads to being scrappy in ways that help a startup either.

I've seen (and been in) startups where the founders were more focused on short term income to pay their bills than long term success in the company - and it IS definitely possible for those two things to be at odds. It wasn't a recipe for success.

I can appreciate (and believe) that being broke may add some level of motivation for some people. I don't believe that motivation is going to be distraction free in most cases, and therefore I feel the argument falls well short of being taken seriously.

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