[throwaway_poor]

Thanks, this is good advice. I don't have envy or jealousy but I do need to decide for myself what I want to actually do. So far I was feeling good about not playing the startup game because from the sample of my friends who gave it a shot, it felt like a lot of stress for what ended up to be moderately higher rewards at best and worse ones at the median. Now I have a very different picture of what success can look like. Then again my friend is not me and I don't have the same skills or opportunities or risk tolerance that he had so maybe the conclusion will be that I don't do anything about it. We'll see. Thanks!

[armchairhacker]

The startup game probably is a lot of stress for at best moderately-better rewards 99% of the time. I don’t doubt your friend is very smart and talented, but to get that level of success you basically need luck.

That’s not to say you can’t pursue a startup. But if you do, don’t hurt your life and burn yourself out, and recognize that the chance you’ll end up like your friend is very slim.

If you’re looking for money, i imagine that there are less risky ways to end up with a decent amount, though not several hundred million. But i don’t know, you’ll have to ask someone else. Also, recognize that money ≠ happiness, though being poor basically = unhappiness.

[null_deref]

I'm very happy that you don't feel jealousy, but I think it's natural to feel envy for some extent, I suggest accepting that those feelings are part of being human. After accepting those feeling try to think about the things you are happy about in your life, and the actions you did in order to gain them.