Starting a company myself, I took 6 months with no salary. After we raised, my salary was massively cut from where it was (30-40% of what I made the year prior). Then you have the fact I gave up guaranteed raises & promotions (to the tune of hundreds of thousands in RSUs).

There’s a pretty large risk to family security. By year two of the startup I have made 15-20% the cash I could have made elsewhere. I have stock that I trust will be worth more in the future (so imo worth it). However, I can see liquidity events being useful if you’re tight on cash after that run