[detst]

It's interested that you look at it this way because I don't. I've always looked for product ideas like his that can bring in some nice cash but aren't going to make you rich. They are everywhere.

Before the wife, kids and mortgage show up, this seems to me to be the way to do it. Don't shoot for the fences. Look for the ideas that can get you enough cash in your pocket to move on to the next idea where you can shoot for the fences. You'll have the stability of the first income and the experience it brought.

(Hopefully this doesn't seem like I'm taking away from what Patrick has done but I think it's clear that this idea isn't making him a millionaire.)

[patio11]

I'm still getting over the shock of being a tens-of-thousandsaire, believe me. There is nothing like being in business as a training tool for being in business, though. I don't think there is any grad school which will teach you, e.g., how to run an AdWords campaign or how to think about SEO, but these are fairly generalizable skills that I get to keep even if catastrophe strikes the teaching bingo market tomorrow.

Plus, as opposed to grad schools, businesses pay you while you learn. (This has always been my excuse for being a Japanese salaryman instead of going to grad school for Japanese.)