[nxc18]

That equation makes it a little too easy to have a rosy picture of things.

A failed startup can be very expensive. You might break even. You might not. Just from the financial perspective on it, when you start including negative and near-zero values on the left side of that equation, conservative job at bigcorp starts looking good.

Then think about the rest of your life. Surely there is some value in getting enough sleep, having free time, work-life balance (because your work isn't 100% of your life), and a basic level of security. Startup life sucks; there are far fewer people who have what it takes (including luck) than there are people who think they do.