good point. But in a broader term communication and resourcefulness are also soft skills people can learn and improve
I don't see anything wrong with VC saying "lack of taking risks", he didn't mention the risk taken has to be "massive". Since most people are genetically predisposed to take minimum risk in order to be secure, it's good to encourage more risk taking
There are many ways to build a network, providing values to people around you is one good way, but if you are just starting out and has not much to offer, you still need other ways to network and get help e.g. finding a mentor
right
There are valuable lessons that are best learnt from business experience and there are also other valuable knowledge that are best obtained from books (e.g. technology, finance/accounting) A mix of both would be best
I think the "giving up" in his context could mean giving up on doing business altogether, rather than giving up his initial business ideas. After suffering a major setback, many people lose self confidence and faith and simply quit
Yes, fear is a good thing if it is born out of calculation and consideration but not emotion
Many startup founders nowadays are good at their own field of expertise(e.g. technology) but not business-savvy, had they been born in a different era they would never have started a company (e.g. mathematician who knows nth about business but create successful AI startup because he knows the math very well)