[VBprogrammer]

Yeah, I can definitely see the argument for having a war chest. Building it by exchanging a chunk of your equity for it in the hope that on the other side of the storm (what is that old fable about economists correctly predicting 11 of the last 7 down turns?) you can make that back and then some feels a little too much of a gamble. You'd have to be incredibly lucky to get the timing right.

Building a war chest by maximising profitability and minimising costs I could definitely understand.

Perhaps I just don't have the guts for it though.

[weavie]

Perhaps you are a programmer and not an investor so you are going to have a different perspective. (I tend to agree your view btw...)