Definitely interesting questions. The perspective I would add with respect to the money itself (relative to the <20yr old stage of life) is: 100K/2 years is a

Definitely interesting questions. The perspective I would add with respect to the money itself (relative to the <20yr old stage of life) is: 100K/2 years is a $50K/year salary. It's not poor, but not wealthy either. Paid out monthly, it's serves to cover my living expenses and some other costs (travel, equipment), but not too much more. No hiring, no vacation homes. It prevents starvation, which otherwise blocks progress. The interesting thing about that money is that in preventing starvation, it changes slightly how I approach my project. Because I know I won't starve for the next year, I can be a bit more exploratory with my work, and better understand the problems I'm solving. I can try a few more things without external pressure to make tangible progress. I can even delay fundraising for a company where I'd otherwise be in "fundraise or die"-mode. I'm not entirely sure how these benefits generalize or apply to all projects, but I'll say that in pursuing a challenging project in a medical space, they help quite a bit.