With a young family to support, I gave up a secure career in a stable sector to pursue the startup dream. I taught myself programming and started working on my

With a young family to support, I gave up a secure career in a stable sector to pursue the startup dream. I taught myself programming and started working on my idea full time. Three years and two failed startups later, I had only $200 left in the bank and decided to throw in the towel. I started interviewing for jobs but wasn't having much luck. This was a real low point in my life, I had asked my family to live on the poverty line for an extended period of time with the promise of success in the near future. But I had failed. And now I couldn't even get back into the career I had left behind. I started working on a third idea while looking for a job. But after suffering knock back after knock back from potential employers, things were looking pretty bleak. A family friend wrote out at a check for $4000 to see me through until I got back to work. I accepted the check but it was a humiliating experience to do so. "The temptation to quit will be greatest just before you are about to succeed." Then out of no where and completely unexpectedly, my latest idea went stratospheric. It was so unexpected that even now I sometimes pinch myself and wonder how it all happened. I never did cash the check my friend gave to me and keep it in my desk drawer. From time to time, I take it out and look at it to remind myself how far I've come.