A few months ago I took some time off school to hack on a couple projects. Learnt a ton and even got to sell the end result for a decent amount of money. The overall experience is a net positive.<p>However, be warned that it can get lonely really fast. Even if you have your family around. I usually never mind being alone for extended period of times even though I do enjoy people's company. But that was something else entirely. It is a feeling, not unlike loneliness but more subtle and that can get crippling some of the time.<p>The thing is that even if you have people around, meet with your friends regularly, see your family etc. No one "gets" what you are doing and so you don't have anyone to celebrate with, share the burden of a task, brainstorm and challenging your status-quo, or licking your wound after things got tough. It's a bit harsh. After some time of independent work, I found myself longing to go back to school, which I did and I'm happier - and stronger - now.<p>Digressing a bit on startups: I think this experience tipped me off (for the future) that starting a solo company is making it harder on yourself than it has to be.<p>Granted remote work is different since you are connected to a team. Still, a word of caution feels necessary.