This is really hard to say without knowing what exactly you mean by going the startup route and what exactly it is you want. There are companies that are profit

This is really hard to say without knowing what exactly you mean by going the startup route and what exactly it is you want. There are companies that are profitable, have a small company mentality, have exciting challenges, but are certainly not startups any more. They don't have the same urgency, but a lot of that urgency comes from the high risk inherent in just being a startup. Chances are you'll have to make compromises. Find out the most important things to you and figure out how to get there while balancing other considerations, like the amount of risk you can actually take.