When you say: "it's actually fairly rare a startup is unable to license some sort of deal and survive", I assume you mean "it's actually fairly rare a startup i

When you say: "it's actually fairly rare a startup is unable to license some sort of deal and survive", I assume you mean "it's actually fairly rare a startup is able to survive without licensing sort of deal" rather than: "it's actually fairly rare a startup is unable to survive by licensing some sort of deal" Whoa, my head is spinning. In other words, usually a startup will be able to make a deal with the content owners which will allow the startup to survive. But I agree it's a risky ballpark to play in. One potentially big advantage, though, is if you're an unknown, this can raise your profile. So, even if this venture is unprofitable because of the legal costs and eventual revenue sharing with the content owners, by working on something that gains traction, you can leverage this reputation and experience on a future venture, which may put you in a more advantageous position than someone starting out from zero. Or the energy sucked out of you from the lawsuit might make you want to leave the field entirely.