High risk high reward jobs are rarely a good advice for someone trying to establish their own life in their twenties especially if you don't have a safety net. It is like suggesting math PhD students to go after the biggest unsolved problem of the century. It is much more sane to try to do such stuff when you are established in your career. Also I am not sure what is the rewarding part even if the start-up becomes wildly successful best you get out of those are some shares with lots of strings attached, it is not like CEO makes every initial employee a high end partner.