Narrowed entrepreneurial paths made self-delusion necessary for aspiring billionaires

Evidence

In a post-Zuckerberg era, many young entrepreneurs took on levels of confidence indistinguishable from pathological self-delusion. If the goal was making billions, there was no future in becoming an astronaut or surgeon. Only entrepreneurial success allowed for the highest forms of self-actualization. Yet even as the tech market roared in the 2010s, the viable paths to such fortunes narrowed to proprietary technological breakthroughs (Google), network effects (Facebook), and ruthless business strategies (Uber). This made magical thinking essential for a generation of aspiring young billionaires. Many saw dishonesty as justifiable—even necessary—to buy time to get the technology working. — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 572

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the death-of-the-sellout and status-dynamics mechanisms Marx maps across the four periods — magical thinking as a cultural product of constrained roads to wealth. — connects to: Tech entrepreneurs disguise wealth-seeking as idealism to claim status — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 676; Depression emerges when entrepreneurial self-belief meets blocked opportunity — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk: The Collected and Unpublished…, 1605