Entrepreneurs can’t look at their tax return at the end of the year to tell how they are doing financially. Results don’t come in tidy calendar year packages.
An entrepreneur spends the beginning part of their career being desperately underpaid, so that in a wild gamble, IF they can make it work out, they can spend the last part of their career being wildly overpaid.
The hockey stick transcends annual boundaries, preferring to show itself, if it is caused to be shown, over decades.