Many investors are at different points. If you already have a significant amount of money, you probably don't want to invest in startups and small caps.
But if you have a relatively low amount to invest then you probably want to take a lot more risk with your money.
For instance you probably wouldn't buy Starbucks back in 1994 when it was .35 cents. But if you invested 350.00 and picked up 1000 shares Today you would have 1.7 million+ all the dividends. Now most wouldn't have held that long, but even after a few years you would have made quite a bit of money.
So it just comes down to each individual and what they have to invest, and what their goals are.