I've had a weird ride in my lifetime from upper-middle class => poor => lower middle-class => finally working my way back to upper. From that perspective, I wouldn't agree with either statement.

I wouldn't say I was ever discouraged from entrepreneurship, even at my lowest. But it did make the math a hell of a lot harder. When you're poor, there's always something more you can lose. Choosing between investing in your business or what you eat that week is a difficult decision.

What I would say is that those circumstances give you the motivation to find the clever, efficient solutions, and to make wiser, less risk-adverse decisions. I never wanted a startup that burned money just to get acquired. I wanted one that could make me real money from the very beginning.

Being poor raises the bar on the quality of the business you intend to create, because failure is worse for you than anyone else.