Well, in one sense, it's much easier having no debt. Imagine trying to found a company if you owned a house with no mortgage, had a vegetable garden out back, and owed nobody anything.

Realistically, what are your living expenses... how much money do you really need to buy 3- 6- or even 48-months of your time?

Now imagine that you own no property of any sort, and have large loan payments that you have to make every month. How much money do you really need to buy even 3- or 6- months of your time.

The opportunity cost of starting the startup is roughly the same (adjustments for interest between the riskfree rate and your credit rating notwithstanding), but the actual number of dollars that have to come from somewhere is quite different indeed.