>I call total bullshit on the idea that founders "bet their lives".
So much this. It is one of the most annoying parts of the startup narrative that technology workers who spend parts of their career building companies are taking huge risks or that it is in someway abnormal to give up salary now for deferred compensation later (every person who gets a graduate degree full time does this).
In fact, the first time you raise an A round, you get more employable, even after the business fails.
It's like the opposite of betting your life.
About the worst thing you can say is that there's an opportunity cost from not starting a different more successful startup or not landing a job that would be the envy of 99% of employed Americans.
You need a scanning electron microscope to see the violin playing the sad song for VC-funded startup founders.
So much this. It is one of the most annoying parts of the startup narrative that technology workers who spend parts of their career building companies are taking huge risks or that it is in someway abnormal to give up salary now for deferred compensation later (every person who gets a graduate degree full time does this).