I've done the startup thing (I was first programmer hire at Datacash in 1997; reverse takeover onto AIM in 2000, after which I left: acquired by Mastercard last

I've done the startup thing (I was first programmer hire at Datacash in 1997; reverse takeover onto AIM in 2000, after which I left: acquired by Mastercard last year). And I've done the lifestyle thing -- self-employed full time for the past decade, doing very nicely but in a niche where it's almost impossible to scale up beyond sole trader. If I'd stuck in the startup mode, I'd be dead. See, startups are very demanding. And if you don't have great health, or a tendency towards stress-related illnesses, that's a very bad situation to be in. I've seen a friend die of it (hypertension plus 90 hour work weeks are a bad combination) and I was on course for it myself before I got out. It doesn't matter if the startup is going to make you rich at the IPO if it kills you first. And it won't do the startup any good if one of the founder dies in harness, either.