I think the problem is that it's a question of definition... A lot of people here who say that it's possible to travel, define a startup as a smaller "lifestyle

I think the problem is that it's a question of definition... A lot of people here who say that it's possible to travel, define a startup as a smaller "lifestyle" business... If you find a good niche it can bring good money while taking less hours. See for example patio11 for an example of someone in that camp, as a result of his experience and way of thinking he wrote http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/10/04/work-smarter-not-harder/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/10/04/work-smarter-not-harder/ Now paraschopra's definition of a startup is closer to the traditional VC backed, big payoff definition. He hopes to make it big, become a leader in the field of A/B testing and get FU money... None of those two ways of thinking are bad. It's essentially a question of risk and reward... The first can lead to financial independence with a nice recurring revenue (for example letsfreckle.com or one of my customer who earns 20 000$/month profit with his website while delegating all the work) and is usually less riskier and less stressful. The second type of company is more of a high risk high reward scenario where if you get bought or IPO, you get enough FU money to truly have financial independence... So, it depends on where you stand on the risk/work reward scale... I don't want to look back in a few years and feel that I've wasted my life trying to earn it. So, while I do work long hours, I take breaks, I go on holidays and I travel and use Wifi connections to do any urgent work that comes up. I don't expect my business to be the next google, facebook or flickr but if it's profitable and allow me to support a comfortable lifetime while eventually not taking too much of my time I'll be happy..