Great post! I love reading pre-company autobiographical accounts from successful founders, as I find it to be a great way to get ideas for what pre-company experiences might best prepare me to be successful myself.

Some additions I would make to Michael's list for "Why to start a start-up":

- As a founder you get a level of control over what problem you're solving that you'll rarely have as an employee.

- You also get a level of control over who you're working with that you'll rarely have as an employee.

- You also escape having your income determined by the market for labor, and instead have it determined by the market for your product.

Those three things are very, very important to me, and I suspect also to many other founders.