Speaking as one of those people, it's not just the financial obligations. In fact I think the financial obligations are a relatively small part of it; it just m

Speaking as one of those people, it's not just the financial obligations. In fact I think the financial obligations are a relatively small part of it; it just means a higher burn rate, which isn't a tremendous problem in the scope of these things. The much bigger problems are the conflict of time spent on family vs the startup, and/or in many cases the desire to have a stable environment for the family. The time can be managed for people who have a lot of energy and are equally passionate about their startup and families. I've seen it work out... but I've also seen it tear others to pieces when they didn't get the balance just right. I'm not suggesting that burn rates and starting on small amounts of capital aren't important, just that it's a small problem relative to the time commitments.