[jjoonathan]

I have a similar story. I let myself steer pretty far in the startup direction before I ultimately dropped those plans.

7 years later, I'm on a M&A team evaluating startups in the exact space I would have been in. There are many of them and few of us (companies looking to acquire). Most of them have failed or will fail and get nothing (beyond investment). The winner will get a mediocre payout that, for the founder, will merely compare to the salary I've earned in the meantime, if my back-of-the-envelope is correct. The stress, of course, will not compare. That's the reward for the winner.

I don't envy the people across the table.