I promise you there were a few occasions in my life where I had to choose between toilet paper and toothpaste. My employees had no idea how bad I was struggling and had I ever let it on they probably would have jumped ship. I found a way to make it through those stuggles where most people would have quit.
It's easy for people to say "Life's easier when you dont have to worry about paying off debt etc." what most of those people forget is that the ones of us who dont have those worries now probably had them just as bad or worse than you can imagine at some point.
The media loves to talk about the rosy side of startups but they never print the article talking about the guys with stories like mine.
At one point I literally took a job selling cars on the weekend just to be able to keep paying my employees and losing money on my business. Everyone I knew told me to quit, but I was just young enough and just dumb enough that I wouldn't. I believed in myself, my company and my employees too much to just give up.
If I had listened to my friends and parents I would have quit, finished school and got a job in the rat race worrying about paying off those student loans.
Instead I got it profitable and ended up selling the company.
Unlike the poster below thinks though I don't have 40 free hours a week these days. I am working to build the next big thing because this is in my blood, its what I love to do and I'll be damned if money (in any direction) is going to be a factor in making my life turn out the way I want.