California E&S Insurance

Stay in a possible world changing startup or start own business Hello fellow fatFIRE peeps, I’ve been conflicted for some time now on whether to continue grinding away as an engineer in yet another startup or start my own startup/business. I’m 30 years old, engaged, no kids, and I currently have a salary of \~170k in California. I’m living well below my means, always saving around 50% of my take home pay (after taxes, maxing out 401k, and contribution to health insurance, etc), I have no debt, I own no home (☹), and I drive a hideous old, but reliable, car that gets hella MPGs. My current net worth is \~475k, which almost half is stocks in a private aerospace company (you know the one) and the other half is in an aggressive growth investment portfolio. My minimum goal is 5mil and for sure out of the game at 10mil by the age of 40 (10 years from now, oh lawd have mercy). As is usual with start up work, I work long hours with a lot of pressure and I’m feeling the burn out starting to creep in. I’ve been working at this rate for around 7 years now. Also, I'm not just a keyboard jockey, half the time I'm in the "field" getting my hands dirty on hardware which also takes a toll. I now work in another startup company that could revolutionize an old industry, but I currently have options for \~0.1% of said company which I’m sure will get diluted as we raise more funds. This company is great and I’m confident in it, but I’ve also been pondering on starting my own business (either a startup or compete in more mature business models) where I’m the majority shareholder. I know getting fatFIRED takes time and I’m willing to put in that time and effort, but I’m kind of getting sick of not being in full control of my life or having a major stake/input in the business I work on. I’ve missed out on leadership roles in other start ups due to politics or bad timing, but I’d still probably be in a non-executive/middle management role even if I did get them. I know starting your own business is riskier and would increase my stress and workload, but based on my research most multi-millionaires own their own business or have a majority stake in multiple businesses. I’ve been fortunate to always be in successful start ups (they have profitable business models), but the law of averages say I’m going to be in failing one either now or in my 10 year window. I want your opinions on whether I should stay with my current company or start my own endeavor based on my 10 year window, fatFIRE goals, current lifestyle.

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  "title": "Stay in a possible world changing startup or start own business",
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