The vast majority of businesses being started aren't organized to go public or get acquired for $1 billion in 7 - 10 years. It's much more realistic to go from

The vast majority of businesses being started aren't organized to go public or get acquired for $1 billion in 7 - 10 years. It's much more realistic to go from making $100-200k in salary, to owning your own business and making $200-500k per year, net. If you were 40+ with a family, what option would you rather choose? A pretty realistic shot at making $300-500k or a crapshoot at creating the next Google, compressed into less than 10 years of course because your VC wants his short term result to impress the next round of LPs.