I think the question to be asked is why you wanted to start a company in the first place. It's obviously not an end unto itself. Maybe you think of it as a way to get rich. In that case, I think you could justify staying at whichever company on the grounds that you have the things you want to be rich for, and therefore don't need to get richer. Also, staying at a company promises much more secure wealth. Maybe you wanted to start a company as a status thing, because you thought of it as the thing that cool people did. In that case, it makes perfect sense that the status boost you feel at your current company steals from your desire to start a company, since they both achieve the sans goal. Ditto if your goal was to contribute to the world by making things. I'm straining to think of decent goals that can only be achieved at your own company. I think those were the major goals, and staying could be described as settling for a lesser prize, not changing goals altogether.