[jcnnghm]

I'd like to see if the author is still happy about his decision after a couple of years. In particular, if he can't raise funds because he is unable to bootstrap for long enough, or get big enough from bootstrapping alone. The benefit of working before starting a startup, especially for an investment bank, is that you can save a bunch of money, then fund some of the stuff to get the company rolling internally, which will make raising money much easier. You don't want to end up in the situation where you can't expand (fast) because you don't have the money, and you can't raise money because you are too small and unproven. In retrospect, I wish I would have gotten a good job before doing a startup, it would have made things much easier.

[michael_miller]

On the other hand, having a salary can be quite addicting. Going from making >$100k straight out of school(probably $150k with stock+bonus), to living on $30k (or whatever your 'ramen salary' is) is quite a challenge, especially when you know what it feels like to have disposable income. Ignorance is bliss.