Though obviously not as sympathetic due to not being in a state of poverty nor afflicted with basic problems of survival, this rings very true for those of us who have bootstrapped companies with poor cash flow and a relatively high personal expense base.<p>I&#x27;ve been in business for seven years, gradually shifting from consulting to product, while paying normal middle-class living expenses in Atlanta the whole time. While the numbers are a lot bigger than those discussed in the article, it&#x27;s the same fundamental problem: bad cash flow burnt my credit to the ground, and has cost me untold sums in late fees, interest, high cost of borrowing, tax penalties, bank fees -- the works.<p>No, can&#x27;t plausibly cry poor house in good conscience. Nevertheless, the old NET-30&#x2F;60&#x2F;90 day shuffle when one has monthly bills to pay can be quite demoralising, and stops many small-scale entrepreneurial endeavours dead in their tracks. It&#x27;s not poverty, but it&#x27;s still a question of livelihood and, ultimately, survival and purpose.<p>The hard lesson I&#x27;ve learned is: just because one has (e.g.) $100k in gross revenue does not mean one can live a lifestyle and&#x2F;or run a company as one could on a $100k salary. Effectively, it needs to be discounted to something like $35k to account for lukewarm cash flow, which means making $100k is really like making $35k.