Comment by radmuzom

Ten years back, when I was fresh out of college, I joined a startup - not as a founder but as the first employee. A lot of it was driven by reading Paul Graham's essays, and I was naive and immature enough to believe that I was doing something great (as an aside, I came from an economically disadvantaged family; and every cent of my assets today is something I have earned and not something which I have inherited or obtained from anyone including my family). Two important things I learned from the experience - 1. The experience as an employee is completely different from being a founder; a lot of my friends have deluded themselves into believing that early employees enjoy as much benefits as the founders. 2. It is very hard to take risks when you are not financially secure; yes, I am pretty sure that there are counterexamples but I believe my statement is true on average. Now after ten years mostly working in large companies, I have some savings which will allow me to last two years in case I lose my job. Also, I like to think that I have enough skills not to die of hunger if it happens. This has resulted in me being much more "entrepreneurial" and I am already working towards starting a company in the next two years.

TL, DR; On an average, it is much easier to start a start-up if you have some basic level of financial security in your life.