Opposites

Starting up a tech business is my "night job". My real job is as a Solutions Architect for a software company, and the 2 roles couldn't be more different. Real job is slow moving, steady, and very large in scope, whereas being an entrepreneur is the complete opposite: you need to be very agile, small scale and fast to implement. The steady income is with RealJob, but there is way more upside with being an entrepreneur, even if a big payout never comes.

Starting up various ventures gives many personal rewards above and beyond anything RealJob could offer. There's the excitement factor, the feeling of being involved in a new frontier (Web 2.0) as opposed to "just another software system". There's also the immense feeling of satisfaction and gratification in seeing an idea make it all the way onto the web. Above all though, being an entrepreneur is about constantly challenging yourself, then rising up to meet it, rather than just plodding along doing the same things that were done 10 years ago.