I've struck out on my own twice now. I worked my butt off both times, and made no money either time. The first time, I burnt out after my business partner lef

I've struck out on my own twice now. I worked my butt off both times, and made no money either time. The first time, I burnt out after my business partner left, and the second time, we tried to make/sell a video plagiarism detection service. These excursions did not just cost me the income I would have received from a corporation, but they also decimated my savings. I have friends who are my age who have worked at corporations consistently, and they have about 10x the savings I have now. Two of them are retired (just over 40 years old). I don't regret my excursions, because I hated many aspects of the corporate life, and I am the kind of person who has to see for myself. But I won't be striking out on my own again. Money, like software, is hard to make reliably at scale. I would no more tell an engineer to strike out on their own in business, than I would tell an entrepreneur to start making an MMORPG.