my note to myself few years ago: As a founder, you have to be fiercely competitive, fiercely ambitious, be a cockroach and refuse to die when the world thinks "nah, this can't be done". Its either that level of conviction, or go work for someone who has and gives you some skin in the game. Worst case, you work for someone and have no skin in the game (equity, tokens..) even if the venture does really well -- in that case, you are just renting your time, and longer term, you are not prepared for the economic realities of the brutally competitive and crowded world ahead.