I think it could be a pretty reasonable system. The idea is that universal guaranteed stipends would become the ultimate backstop: almost a UBI, but targeted at those with actual need for it while requiring something of social benefit in return. I'd imagine that under this system the average person would live off of stipends indefinitely, which is fine because acting as a redundant store of useful knowledge is valuable to society in and of itself.

If someone runs a startup that isn't providing a livable income and they don't have savings to live off of, that startup shouldn't be their full-time job. Of course startups aren't for everyone, just as coding isn't, but there are many other forms of self-employment. Even so, I'd imagine successful startups to be far more common than today in such an environment — if not by percentage, at least by absolute numbers. A world of cheap and abundant capital with engineering and physical labor available at a fraction of the cost of human employees would be an entrepreneur's dream.