What made you decide to pursue a startup?
jacquesm: First time was in '86 after working for a bank for a while and talking to my boss who laid out for me why I should go and do a thing on my own. Awesome guy (Thanks Eddy!).I sold that business and traveled for a while after that, freelancing whenever the money pit was at low tide.It was '93 last time I started from scratch, re-migrating to NL from PL, baby on the way, no outlook at getting a job (minor IT crisis in NL at the time).Simply a need to put food on the table. Which I can guarantee you is a very powerful motivator, especially when it includes little humans.I wouldn't worry ao much about what others think about it.What is more important is that you cut down your costs to the absolute minimum (this may require a serious change in lifestyle) to give yourself as much 'runway' as you can get. It takes a while to get off the ground, and with a lower expense pattern your chances of success increase tremendously.edit: You know you've made the right decision when you're happy. In spite of all the risks involved (no pension, no social security for me) I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.