One of the points I was trying to get through, and perhaps didn't do a great job of, was that I keep seeing people/apps trying to use HTML and various wrapping frameworks / toolkits to create the look and feel of an iOS app. Even worse, many of these "apps" don't even need to be apps (end of the article).
We went this route too and hoped we could re-use lots of code we already had but, as you say, the right tool for an iOS app is Objective-C. Un-JITed JS inside a wrapped app with a zillion Objective-C stubs using the DOM in a view-like manner its not meant to represent just doesn't do it.
Its not really a question of what you'd prefer to code in (you'll always prefer something familiar) but what delivers the best result for what you're trying to do. In essence we created two real, not test, apps, one using HTML and one using Objective-C. The clear winner was Objective-C in our experience, at this time. Creating a great mobile interface using HTML5 is certainly worth doing and can be done - but I dont think it should be made to look and feel like an app (either in safari or wrapped) since the "not-quite-right" issues just keep piling up, and if you want the look and feel of iOS you should just go native in the first place.
I'll attest to the article's accuracy, but that's one data point. The highs from big wins are great, but the lows hit hard and often. Celebrating (even unreasonably so) small wins is particularly important to try to keep things in balance.
I have no idea how it averages out compared to non-founders and non-startup-employees, but it's a nasty roller-coaster to be sure.
I am not sure if being a founder means that you will be unhappy. Personally I feel that that by being a founder you are constantly exposing yourself to circumstances that could cause you to be "unhappy" -- there is no end to the ups and downs.
YQL (the Pipes sister product) is more programmer friendly, and also free. Give YQL a go if the Pipes visual UI doesn't work for you (and it has lots of yummy server side JS goodness too).
