[gwbas1c]

I left a large corporate job to start my own business: I ended up going 18 months without income, and then working for a startup.

In my case, I really needed to be "in control" of my day-to-day work for awhile. A part of me regrets the lost income, because my investments that I used to live on would have gone bonkers; but I was in a situation at my old job that was quickly getting unhealthy.

So what I'll say is:

1: There's a lot to be said for making gobs of money when you're young. If you can tough it out for XX more months and invest gobs of money, those investments might help you retire much younger than you think. (And at that point, you don't need to show up for work.) (To put it in perspective: I missed out on a rather lucrative investment because I lived on my savings for 18 months and didn't have the spare cash to invest.)

2: There's a lot to be said for work satisfaction. You might need to "scale back" a bit: Drive a Toyota instead of a Lexus, have a more modest home, ect.

In my case, I don't regret quitting my job to start a business. I regret certain mistakes I made with the business, but those are critical lessons that I'll use if/when I ever work in a "low income" stage of a startup again.