I am "kind of" in the same situation. I also have some savings and I dont want to use them, however, it seems it will be necessary. You should consider it a be

I am "kind of" in the same situation. I also have some savings and I dont want to use them, however, it seems it will be necessary. You should consider it a bet. If you are convinced that your startup will fly, maybe you should bet everything? Just ask yourself if you were willing to bet say 20k$ if you'd win 500k$ with a 50% chance and lose everything with a 50% chance. Unless you already have family or other people to sustain you CAN take that risk. With 25 you still have decades to worry about your retirement... Try to at least find one client paying something (which is the "market test" seeing whether they just find your product nice or whether they really want (as in $$$)it). Also, check out http://www.cbinsights.com/blog/trends/startup-failure-post-mortem http://www.cbinsights.com/blog/trends/startup-failure-post-m... and make sure you're doing none of the mistakes over there...