I've rarely heard people try and sell startups as a way to make oodles of cash. It's more frequently sold as a way to be your own boss. As such I'd expect it

I've rarely heard people try and sell startups as a way to make oodles of cash. It's more frequently sold as a way to be your own boss. As such I'd expect it to attract people of a particular personality type, who want to drive their own ideas forward and do things their own way, without anyone telling them what they can or cannot do. As such I'm not convinced that it is always a rational decision (or, at least, not an entirely rational one - there's definitely emotional input there). Looking at all of the people who applied to YCombinator and seeing how many of them have successful businesses a couple of years later would be fascinating.