That definitely reduces the risk vs. funding it yourself, sure, but founders are still investing a large chunk of their life into it, and that's not something p

That definitely reduces the risk vs. funding it yourself, sure, but founders are still investing a large chunk of their life into it, and that's not something people usually breezily write off. Having other people funding it can actually increase the amount of guilt and stress you feel about failing - you let down the people that believed in you. For most people, that hurts. It's easy to sit on the sidelines and make snide remarks about founders who you think are wasting others' money paying themselves cushy salaries (most pay themselves far below what they'd make at Google), but I don't think you're really in any position to until you've put yourself out there in some similar fashion.