Youth Needs No Bravery, Only Motion

People romanticize the act of starting a company as if it were leaping into a burning building. But timing matters. Bravery is not an absolute — it is contextual.

If you already carry the weight of children, a mortgage, a career, then yes: the plunge is costly. The rope you cut has years of stability knotted into it. But to a student, or someone just stepping off the conveyor belt of college, what rope is there?

The myth is that it’s reckless. The reality: there is nothing to lose. No family to feed. No house to protect. No reputation carved in stone. You are naked anyway — so what is the risk of undressing further?

Dropping out of school sounds dramatic, but only if you believe the script of permanence. In practice, it’s reversible, forgettable, almost trivial. The “risk” is just an idea, a story you’ve been told.

The truth: it does not take much bravery to start a company when you are young. What it takes is simply noticing that your downside is an illusion. You have no career to burn, no assets to squander, only time. And time at 20 is the cheapest currency you’ll ever own.

So what remains is not courage but cowardice. To hold back, when the cost is so low and the possible trajectory so high — that is the only betrayal.

The young founder is not a hero leaping into fire. They are a coward if they stand still, pretending there are flames where there is only air.