A word of warning about web startups: what you find interesting is not necessarily what the average web surfer would find interesting.

In fact, it's even worse than that: what you find interesting is not necessarily something that the average web surfer could even understand.

Of course, academia has its own problems (e.g., your peers don't really care much about your success and have their own agendas, which causes problems with peer review). Also, publishing stuff isn't really anywhere near as rewarding as having a successful web startup.

There is no better time to take a risk on a startup then right off completing your bachelors degree! You can accept more risk, have more time to fail, recover and be successful in the future.

Agreed. Leap - and the net will appear.