I can't disagree with that. It's a reasonable point.<p>But when I left school, I used tens of thousands in credit card debt to build my first business because I just HAD to be an entrepreneur and there was no other way.<p>- I didn't want a side job, because I felt it would be an excuse to procrastinate when the going got tough at my startup.<p>- I couldn't raise money, because I didn't have the slightest clue where to begin. (All the books I bought on how to raise VC money were useless. My family didn't have the cash. And my family friends kept telling me I should get a job.)<p>I would have given anything just for a chance to start a business. My kid brother and I actually talked about me selling a body part to raise money. Sounds ridiculous now, but it shows how determined (desperate?) I was to be an entrepreneur.<p>Losing my money, credit, house, etc, all that meant nothing in comparison to a shot at being like the people I admired.<p>I wonder if you can make it without that kind of determination. I wonder if someone who thinks rationally about not taking on too much debt can have the irrational passion to be an entrepreneur (or to do anything exceptional).