Three years to startup
MicahWedemeyer: I've been doing the nights & weekends thing for exactly 3 years today (9/11).  My project is http://www.obsidianportal.comWe're profitable but I still need a dayjob to pay the bills, so take my advice for what it's worth.1. Shorter release schedule is always preferable.  Like others have said 2 years to launch is a really bad idea.  However, my question is: Where did you come up with these numbers?  Do you have 2 different projects, or are you setting arbitrary timelines and want to fit a project to that timeline?2. Going all-in is not a bad thing.  I'm currently a "parallel entrepreneur" and it's very hard.  It's much easier to focus on a single thing and hit it 100% rather than focus on a lot of things at 20%.3. Sysadmin is easy: sign up for a service where someone else handles it.  As a Ruby on Rails guy, I heavily recommend Blue Box hosting.  It's like having a sysadmin on the team, and it's not much more expensive than Slicehost.  It's a good skill to learn, but I'm with you: let someone else do that stuff.4. It sounds like you need an idea.  I know everyone says it's the execution, not the idea, but you need _some_ idea to execute on.  I would suggest using your time now to try and find 2 things: an idea and a co-founder.  Going to local meetups, talking to people, and such would be good things to do at this stage.  Find something you can be passionate about, or else you'll never find the motivation to spend your nights & weekends on it.