It absolutely isn't a great rule for everybody. But it's a pretty good baseline rule if you know that your goal is to found a successful startup. There are lots of other goals that someone might have, and working in China and playing in a band sounds like a pretty awesome thing to do. For that matter, getting a job at a great company and getting paid a great salary can also be a pretty awesome thing to do. But if what you want most is to start a successful startup, there do seem to be some paths that are more likely to result in success than others.
> Every incredibly successful person is an outlier.
This is true. But the whole premise of YC and other startup incubators is that there are things you can do to significantly increase your odds of being successful if what you want to do is to found a startup.
Your chance of becoming Larry Page, Bill Gates, or Mark Zuckerberg is incredibly small. But your chance of founding a startup with some degree of success will be better.
> Every incredibly successful person is an outlier.
This is true. But the whole premise of YC and other startup incubators is that there are things you can do to significantly increase your odds of being successful if what you want to do is to found a startup.
Your chance of becoming Larry Page, Bill Gates, or Mark Zuckerberg is incredibly small. But your chance of founding a startup with some degree of success will be better.