I disagree. This phrase is an overcomplication. And in modern terms is actually false through and through. 1. In simple terms wealth refers to any savings. So if you have a day's worth of food, it is wealth. But modern people understand it exclusively as substantial savings, often obtained through means other than a direct work of one's own hands. Lesson 1: need to be vary careful about using word wealth nowadays, especially in a positive context. 2. Investment as in modern terms (a.k.a. robbery in disguise through manipulation) is negative through and through. Lesson 2: So it is repugnant to put any wealth in this area regardless of any further motivation. In case this overheated some human CPUs, let me simplify with a parable: you save 10 btc (wealth) and "invest" it in a squad of slaves to build you a house that you will sell for 20 btc. This is bad, right? If we take investment as a legacy term (a.k.a. converting one's own energy into a physical matter that will bring joy once done), that does not take much savings. You just need to be fed while you do it. 3. Lesson 3: Innovation is a natural by-product. It does not require any complex pre-meditated wealth. It is born by individuals, not organizations. Lesson 4: if the innovation is produced by external (to the individual) motivation, it will be badly compromised, and we would rather do without that particular innovation. Overartching lesson: accept what nature gives you, and don't push it's boundaries, or you will end up weak, sick, unpretty, dissatisfied, afraid, endebted to yourself and others, dependent on god, man or whatever, and in a location/climate unsuitable for your species. Wait, aren't you there already?