Framing mistakes like this really bothers me. Your passion was not your weak spot. Your weak spot was allowing others to exploit it. Passion can be exploited j

Framing mistakes like this really bothers me. Your passion was not your weak spot. Your weak spot was allowing others to exploit it. Passion can be exploited just like anything else. Those who are looking to exploit will exploit anything. Clearly they were looking to cover their bases, which they did. You were free to also, but you didn't. The mere willingness to take low paying jobs is partially responsible for you not getting higher paying jobs. You made yourself unavailable to better opportunities. It's like saying, having 100M was my weak spot, after someone swindled you out of it. Passion is that valuable. You want it and need it and are better off for it. If your recent experiences made you lose it, you should try everything you can to get it back. Those with passion have a distinct advantage over those without, and you want that advantage. If anything, you should have looked to work with those as passionate as you, if not more. How could you tell? Well, for starters, if they are not willing to share the risk and financial hardship with you, that is a sign they mean business and not passion. Anecdotally, opposite stories also exist. I'd be surprised if Jet.com and Theranos don't fall under this. Exploitations happen every which way. It's up to us to not find ourselves on the receiving end of it.