[kghose]

I've never been in industry, but to me there are similarities between running a lab and running a business.

First you have to convince some one (a funding agency, an investor) that your idea is interesting and will work.

Then you have to manage yourself, other people and other resources to work your plan.

Then you have to show off your results.

The real world is not strictly a meritocracy, not even a good approximation. What people (reviewers, customers - the market) likes is often not very tightly coupled to the technical merits of the work.

Based on your past success funding agencies (angel investors) will be more or less willing to fund your next venture.

In the end, industry involves a whole lot more money, but academia gives you a different kind of satisfaction, but in both I think it is what you make of it, how you manage your time, how much stress you take and what kind of work life balance you make.