ASK HN: I'm lost -- need direction
rjurney: Its not too late, you just can't afford to be in Ramen mode unless you save money ahead of time or your wife has enough income to float you on a startup salary.My advice: get in a startup as early as you can afford to.  If that means being employee 10, so be it.  You'll still have a good time.  If you can afford to be a founder, do it.  But with a wife and kids, joining a funded entity is probably more palatable.As a more mature adult... you're actually really valuable to a startup: you bring wisdom and perspective.  And you're still willing, you haven't 'grown out of it.'  Use this to your advantage.I'd suggest this talk from Damien Katz of CouchDB, about taking the leap to work on a project full time, with a wife and kids - http://www.infoq.com/presentations/katz-couchdb-and-me