Being a startup forum I'm surprised no one has compared doing a PhD to starting a startup. Has anyone done both and if so are they similar in stress levels, willpower needed etc? What are the similarities and differences?
I wasn't terribly highly motivated about the PhD work towards the end - the main thing I learned during the process was that I did not want to work in academia. I didn't see much point in a PhD as a general purpose credential and basically used my time for the last 18 months or so getting our company sorted out.
Having said that, academia - particularly post-grads, is a great place to meet people. I met my co-founder through a research project and a couple of other people I knew from there came on-board as early stage employees and worked out really well.