[eladgil]

I definitely agree motivations for starting a company are mixed, and vary a lot from person to person. For the most successful companies I have seen, the motivations have largely collapsed to the ones I listed - with different mix of motivation by founder.

Finding the right word was definitely a struggle, but I think you need to lack alternatives in order to start a company. So "desperation" seemed to fit.

Open to other ideas/suggestions on a better word?

[__derek__]

Reaching for an "extreme" label is the issue here. What you've described in the blog post is lower opportunity costs. That is compatible with but doesn't imply desperation or a lack of alternatives: neither applies to the "revenge" founders or the folks foregoing $200k+ salaries, for example. In fact, both are able to take the risk because of solid-but-not-extravagant alternatives (wealth from prior exit and highly-compensated jobs, respectively). That's what separates both from the VPs pulling down million-dollar comp, who face much higher opportunity costs for the exact same potential reward.

[nithayakumar]

>> you need to lack alternatives

I dont believe this. Went through YC this year and many of the founders had great alternatives. You could say that none of the alternatives were as attractive... but thats how all decisions are made

[danielmarkbruce]

>> you need to lack alternatives

People don't talk about this much. Some brilliant people I know won't start (or stay with) a company because they have too many high paying, interesting alternatives.