Success at anything requires motive, means, and opportunity. Lots of people work harder than billionaires, but aren't billionaires. Motivation alone is insufficient. Lots of people are competent or even talented at something. But many are lazy and unfocused, or in the wrong place at the wrong time. You could have invented cold fusion if you'd studied at Cambridge instead of staying in a refugee camp. So opportunity matters too. And like the other factors, it alone is insufficient. "Penny pinching" is indeed a poor strategy if you can access a wealth of opportunities, and indeed have the motivation and means to make the most of them. But the ability to indulge in the kind of risk-taking behaviour the writer describes can, perhaps, also be understood as an opportunity not equally available to all.
Success at anything requires motive, means, and opportunity. Lots of people work harder than billionaires, but aren't billionaires. Motivation alone is insufficient. Lots of people are competent or even talented at something. But many are lazy and unfocused, or in the wrong place at the wrong time. You could have invented cold fusion if you'd studied at Cambridge instead of staying in a refugee camp. So opportunity matters too. And like the other factors, it alone is insufficient. "Penny pinching" is indeed a poor strategy if you can access a wealth of opportunities, and indeed have the motivation and means to make the most of them. But the ability to indulge in the kind of risk-taking behaviour the writer describes can, perhaps, also be understood as an opportunity not equally available to all.