> For me, failure would have been catastrophic. Perhaps that's objectively true or maybe that's just your perspective (ie, what your level of resilience can ha

> For me, failure would have been catastrophic. Perhaps that's objectively true or maybe that's just your perspective (ie, what your level of resilience can handle) Like your classmates I joined a risky startup as employee 1 during the great recession, but unlike them I didn't have any backstop. Failure would have hurt but it wouldn't have been catastrophic - including rent and income-based college loan repayment my monthly nut was maybe $1k. When I was short on cash I took a job at nights doing phone tech support and later building websites for local businesses in my spare time. That isn't to say there weren't bumps (had my first run-in with the IRS -- and debt collectors) but to me there was always a way to make ends meet. Of course i owed some of that to being young and healthy without dependents, and the availability of $600/month apartments...