Don't get sucked into the idea that "startup" means VC funded startup with high risk, multi-year investment of your time. Consider bootstrapping many "utility"

Don't get sucked into the idea that "startup" means VC funded startup with high risk, multi-year investment of your time. Consider bootstrapping many "utility" startups with the aim of getting 1-2 that have an aggregate value of $2.2M and that, as assets, will provide > $80K in revenue versus $80K in interest, which amounts to the same thing practically speaking. I think the math in valuing these things is tricky but just for the sake of this conv let's say you want to create assets that produce $160K in income/year (to offset for the fact that these assets might only produce value for a few years or require additional investment down the road). That means you need assets that produce $13K/mo. Which, honestly, is not much. So ask yourself this, what is more fun, easier, and more likely, making $2.2M from a single big gamble? Scrimping your dev salary for 20 years working on someone else's dream? Or making 2-3 bets (apps/products) year for a 2-3 years where 1 or 2 turn into actual money makers? I think by following a strategy like this, by the time you are in your mid 20's you easily should be basically retired. There are a million little needs and still backward industries where people are willing to pay for some automation and/or convenience. Finding and scratching those itches is pretty satisfying IMO. It is a very personal thing and obviously you need the few years of space to build these things without also worrying about how you are going to eat.