You aren't "earning 12K" you are using that 12K to kick start your idea.
Ok, rephrase that as "at least I'm only losing 80% of my salary instead of 100%".
Plenty of people who could create great things are also saddled with families and expenses that run to 80+% of their disposable incomes. It's all well and good to suggest that an individual can live on ramen noodles, but a family and young children cannot and should not have to. That leaves only a few options left for such people to start a company: do it on the side in evenings/weekends; and save up a nest egg then quit/reduce your job to work on the startup.
Suggesting that willingness to forgo having a family is a pre-requisite for entrepreneurship is fallacious.
Re:YC Fellowship
by tjculbertson on Monday July 20, 2015 @11:53PM
(#9920489)
Amen brotha. That is the difference between employees and entrepreneurs when the bubble bursts.
0% for $12k is obviously a great deal, but my main stumbling block has always been the loss of income from dropping paid work, and $12k over two months is barely half an engineer's salary - let alone to cover multiple team members.
That said, it may well be enough to make someone like me think "well, at least I won't be earning zero dollars..."