Survivorship Bias illustration: two onlookers enjoy the long-lasting, successful design of the fun, iconic Volkswagen Beetle car. One says to the other "They don't make them like they used to" - ignoring the fact that the product they see is undoubtedly the result of many failed prototype designs.

Survivorship bias

We usually only see the winners. The losers tend to disappear from the record. Which is why all the fund managers in the papers seem to be giving great returns, or starting the next Whatsapp or Instagram seems like such a sure fire way to get rich. We don’t see all the funds, apps and entrepreneurs who never made it.

Keep exploring

For want of a nail poem: from the shoe, to the rider, the battle and the kingdom it's all lost because that fellow dropped the nail

Detecting prostate cancer summary - how screening for prostate cancer has changed DRA, PSA blood test and MRI screening compared in the old way and new way

Buy Me A Coffee