Different strokes for different folks. The vast majority of people look for a stable job, and don't mind being a 90k .NET developer at Big Corp. But there's a

Different strokes for different folks. The vast majority of people look for a stable job, and don't mind being a 90k .NET developer at Big Corp. But there's a small section of the population that cannot stand to "grind" for a large organization, or even for someone else. They want to work towards something that they are passionate about, and ownership greatly increases passion. They are the sorts of people who do not believe in the "divinity of repetition", to separate their work life from their personal life. Some people want to spend time working on their own projects, instead of someone else's... even if that means forgoing buying a suburban home now and a nice car. The idea of grinding for them is much worse than being out of a job or not having a large disposable income. I would not say that there is "startup hype", but that (thankfully) there will always be a section of the population that fits the breed that I described. There is the "entrepreneurial fire" that some have, and most others do not. Don't knock them for it. They have a different value set than the Big Corp types, and there's nothing wrong with it.