@Tony Much of what you're saying is the purpose of business loans, and of course I have a good amount of time to develop acuity for an industry. I'm not saying "I'm gonna start NOW RIGHT NOW WITH MY OWN MONEY."

Right now I can tank a risk to the tune of "2-3 years worth of a career." The effort puts something on my resume and someone who can navigate the process of getting funding can keep themselves from being screwed - and I have connections which will absolutely help me navigate this space.

I'd also disagree that investment is the right way to go: if you start a business and run it, your day job is doing the thing that your business does. If you invest on the side, then your day job is whatever gay ZOG thing someone else's business does. Even if the ROI is poorer, I'm also not in this purely to maximize dollars.