It's a euphemism for not working at all, though likely with one or two experiences that keep it from being a total lie (the majority of the money lived off of b

It's a euphemism for not working at all, though likely with one or two experiences that keep it from being a total lie (the majority of the money lived off of being either already saved or coming from family). The guy just failed hard in a pretty limp way. The options are either to try to "grow personally" and then to try something similar again, or to buckle down with a normal job and develop your skills and knowledge into something that really has value. When you've been drinking the start-up kool-aid the second is a hard pill to swallow - having to actually compete with everyone else - but I think it's worth it.