My biggest hold-back from forming a startup has been Health Insurance. The pre-existent condition clause will pretty much ensure that I can't get my own health insurance, and leaving my 15 month old without insurance is just unacceptable.

Once my wife gets out of Masters that will all change :).

Thought I must disagree with the universal health care point. The government can help regulate the way insurance companies operate vs give universal healthcare which by empirical evidence is failing in European countries.

Now my quick point on risk: You WILL fail (hence RISK) but sometimes you will succeed. All you need to ensure is that when you fail you can still have enough money to eat. Have a friend who didn't realize this point.