Or they have a spouse doing all the heavy lifting at home.

Yep. And, as 90% of startups fail, those spouses also need to bring money to the table.

It's not a great deal to raise the kids and support the household while your absent S.O. spends all their time trying/failing to become some V.C.'s lottery ticket.

(I'm not talking about CEOs of well-funded startups. I'm talking about all the people who throw their lives away chasing that dream in circles around the startup-industrial complex.)

Exactly. My boss's wife is at home doing all the kid stuff while both my wife and I work. Yet he talks to me like he has the exact same challenges.

Just because someone has kids doesn't mean they're spending the same time with them... also age of the kids matter. High school kids don't need as much help with things as little kids.

You have the exact same challenges. He just was able to overcome them better than you, by having/picking/convincing a wife who takes care of the home. You all made your choices.

I guess so. I mean, he's from a generation when most women didn't work and I'm from a generation when most women do work. He bought his house long before prices skyrocketed, I wasn't in the workforce until long after they did. So, I'm not sure it's a fair comparison, but you're not wrong either.

So your wife has to work because your house was so expensive? I wonder about the place where you live. When your boss bought his home, was it cheap everywhere, or did he pick an affordable location that now has become expensive?

It's not a must that woman work in this day and age.