Is the work you will be doing on these "interesting projects" the thing you would pick if you were a multimillionaire and didn't have to work?<p>If not making as much as you possibly can, with the lowest living standard you can get away with is a better bet imo.  I can't imagine any place letting me work on what <i>I</i> want when <i>I</i> want to all the time, and even if there were such a place what happens when I invent something?  My name is on a list with a bunch of other mostly unrelated people?