Yes, definitely. The number one thing I tell people who want to go solo is to have plenty of money in the bank so that they can weather the ups and downs without freaking out.
Samuel Johnson captures it well: "Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." One normally has more runway than a fortnight, but the feeling is definitely similar.
One related thing that seems relevant: Steve Blank writes perceptively about how a lot of founders have dysfunctional childhoods:
Samuel Johnson captures it well: "Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." One normally has more runway than a fortnight, but the feeling is definitely similar.
One related thing that seems relevant: Steve Blank writes perceptively about how a lot of founders have dysfunctional childhoods:
http://steveblank.com/2009/05/18/founders-and-dysfunctional-...
The theory is that if you're already used to living in chaos and being near the edge of disaster, working without a net seems almost reasonable.