[srlake]

As a startup-founder (Thalmic, YC w13), I wholeheartedly disagree with the viewpoint of the author here.

Is the pressure high, and the chance of success low? Certainly.

Was the expected value of taking a Google salary rather than the risk-weighted value of starting a company higher? Again, yes.

But the missing piece here is that sometimes it's not about the money, the perks, the hours. I love doing what I'm doing today, regardless of all of the above. My two co-founders here would say the same. We get to choose exactly who we want to work with, what we want to work on, and get a real shot at having an impact on people's lives all over the world, through the products we create.

If we didn't have entrepreneurs taking this irrational leap, we wouldn't have the Google's of the world to employ those who choose the other path.