I agree, though you do need to make sure you choose a good startup. There are still startups out there that view developers as interchangeable cogs, where you can end up with the worst of all worlds (no stable paycheck, no real autonomy, uninteresting work).
One thing I did notice - it can be a little risky to spend a long time at a single startup that fails. I worked for a startup that did fail (and was a little crappy) for two years, and some people had been there for 8 or more years. When it tanked, the people who had spent their entire career since college at the startup didn't have extensive networks to tap into for the next gig.
The ideal resume probably includes a stint at a large but respected company (such as google amazon), as well as some innovative work at smaller companies and/or startups and maybe some consulting and open source work.
Of course, the "resume" is starting to get a little outdated, and a lot of people would say the best thing to do is just start your own company when you're young and can afford the risk, rather than wasting those consequence-free first 10 years on resume building.
Now that I'm the primary wage earner for a family with two kids, trust me, I know the restrictions. Interestingly, startups aren't really off limits to people like me in places like the Bay Area, because they keep your skills sharp and there is just so much hiring going on (the ol "career security" vs "job security" thing).
But what is off limits (or at least very difficult) is the ramen-level poverty you can afford when you're in your 20s and have nobody depending on you. For the first 5 years after college, my rent was $350/month near the beach in San Diego, and that was the only real expense. If I'd needed to, I could have driven that even lower. That's a serious opportunity that goes away later in life.