First, I'm 23 (as of today) and my parents were the ones who first got me started on computers at about age 6. Neither of them are big geeks, but my dad is a dr

First, I'm 23 (as of today) and my parents were the ones who first got me started on computers at about age 6. Neither of them are big geeks, but my dad is a draftsman and has used computers at his work since CAD became popular in the early 90s. He also tried to start his own business when I was a kid. Unfortunately it flopped, taking a huge chunk of money with it. It took years for my parents to recover from that, and they didn't have much money to begin with. My dad has never attempted another business, but I think he regrets that. That must be where I got the entrepreneurial bug from. When I suggested that I want to start my own business, my dad was supportive but wary, and my mum was wary but supportive, if you get what I'm saying. I can't fault either of them, because they've always supported me in everything I've done. Money is always a sticky point with them, so I had to convince them that I had some idea what I was doing and that there was relatively little risk. Now is the time I can do risky stuff like this. The worst that could happen, I argued, is that I lose a few months of my life and living expenses for that time. It turned out that's what did happen, and now I'm in a sticky position of trying to find a summer job in May, when no one wants to hire me for just 4 months (now 3.5). I'm returning to school in September to finish my undergrad. I don't consider my first startup attempt a failure, because I've learnt a lot. The whole time, my parents have been supportive of the idea, but very concerned about money. I know I impressed them with how long I could survive on the money I had -- I definitely learnt how to live ridiculously cheap.