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Ask HN: What are examples of activities/bets with asymmetric upside?

For example, usually asking someone out on a date has huge asymmetric upside. You might hit it off and end up being in a happy relationship. If not, you'd just be a little embarrassed and maybe awkward with the person afterward.

Investing in call options on AMD in 2014 or Tesla in 2019 also had huge asymmetric upside. It was clear that these stocks had massive risks, but while the upside was potentially huge, the downside was capped at -100%.

What other examples are there?

Also welcome examples of things with asymmetric downside like texting while driving.

62 points valdagger 4 years ago 97 comments

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