But I think the point is - would you be up for earning £200k a year when it's still your company doing what you want to do. I am not suggesting comparing a £200k a year with having a job - that's very very different and I would never want that. To me that really is a failure.
I often ask the question - what would I do if I had £100m++. maybe I would go travel for a few years, but as I am still in my early 40s I would end up having a small company doing some cool stuff in the latest tech. Its what I enjoy doing. You can only sit on so many beaches!
What is the end game? having £100M+ in the bank account is only the start :) i wondering if anyone who has made some big money reads hacker news - or is that all now do :)
An interesting article; i was reading the replies to this. So here is my take. A UK 40++ entrepreneur.
I have been there and done that - made good £££ from the first boom in 2000. Since then tried a couple of startups all of which failed, for one reason or another. Sadly we did burn through quite a lot of investor £££ in the process and gained no personal value other than experience.
What I think I have learned is that building a small business with around 5-10 people and making a regular salary of £200k a year is a much more enjoyable existence than trying for the millions and never quite getting there.
Working for a large corp, contracting etc is depressing (other than doing it abroad which was fun for a few years and allowed me to travel in my 30's).
We now have a funky office, a very tight team of devs. I guess in some ways I modelled on what Joel did.
After everything, I have learned "bootstrap" + "lifestyle business" is the best route to have a happy and productive life. Our business is a digital agency - mostly wordpress sites for SME market, a few apps etc. Its regular and good money. it is no way as interesting as some of the "startup" ideas we tried over the years, but no VC still on my shoulder anymore :)
When a card is issued - do we get the card number back? e.g Could I use the card number for something else like a loyalty card.