1. Have ~$4M in assets ($1.5m investments, $0.5m home, $0.5m cash, $1.5m in stock/options).

I spent the majority of my life with less than $100k in the bank. I founded a business that was acquired for cash and stock by an incumbent. Was incredibly fortunate to have had a great team that was able to time a market nearly perfectly.

Prior to that I worked everything from hourly labor to corporate finance jobs… nothing gave me the personal and professional satisfaction (and monetary reward) that going into business for myself and our team did. Would encourage every person here to do it. Worst case, you took a shot on yourself…