I did a PhD exactly for that reason. I had an offer from a company, I was sort of bootstrapping a company with a friend, and I had an offer for a PhD position[1

I did a PhD exactly for that reason. I had an offer from a company, I was sort of bootstrapping a company with a friend, and I had an offer for a PhD position[1]. I decided to do a PhD, since it's much easier to roll in to a PhD right after finishing a Masters than ten or twenty years later, and I thought it would offer the opportunity to deepen my knowledge in a particular field. When I started my PhD I didn't have the ambition to start an academic career. [1] In the Netherlands being a PhD candidate is a normal employment. You get a decent salary and benefits and you have four years to focus on actual research, with very few teaching responsibilities, or having to follow courses. It's just a researcher position where you also write a thesis.