Unfortunately, the phrase "startup" has two meanings. Generally, it means the big, world-changing, swing for the fences type of startups that consume all of your time (and then some). Fail fast or prove your idea so you can get investment to grow it rapidly. It would not be a good idea to try and do one of these while you have a full time job and family.
The other meaning is sometimes called a "lifestyle business" (I dislike this term). The scope is something you can handle in nights and weekends which limits your ceiling somewhat. There's a full-time job providing income which takes away some of the hunger for success that comes with working for free. But the time constraint and income requirement means that you will probably seek profitability sooner and have that in mind from the outset. If it can be comfortably run on the side, then a home run isn't necessary (an extra 40K/yr would be a welcome success for this type of startup). This kind can be done with a family and day job, and I think this is the type of startup he is talking about.
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Unfortunately, the phrase "startup" has two meanings. Generally, it means the big, world-changing, swing for the fences type of startups that consume all of your time (and then some). Fail fast or prove your idea so you can get investment to grow it rapidly. It would not be a good idea to try and do one of these while you have a full time job and family.
The other meaning is sometimes called a "lifestyle business" (I dislike this term). The scope is something you can handle in nights and weekends which limits your ceiling somewhat. There's a full-time job providing income which takes away some of the hunger for success that comes with working for free. But the time constraint and income requirement means that you will probably seek profitability sooner and have that in mind from the outset. If it can be comfortably run on the side, then a home run isn't necessary (an extra 40K/yr would be a welcome success for this type of startup). This kind can be done with a family and day job, and I think this is the type of startup he is talking about.