any case studies / anecdotes of people significantly upping their agency in their 20's?

feel like i had a huge jump when i was 18 and a slow climb but just been.. doing life recently

start a startup, have kids, do things that could kill you. take more and bigger risks. its your birthright and the reason you were put on this earth

yes. think less. i wasted too much of my life in 'analysis paralysis'. kinda like dropping into a half pipe: you gotta just do it. too easy to think your way out of risk-taking 

example: i knew within 6 weeks i should've quite google (bad fit) but stayed for 6 years. i waited until i was in my late 30s to have kids and start a company. wish i would've done both 10 years earlier. advice to my younger self: do more, think less

how do you think about taking the leap into a new risk (kids, startup)? is it just "do it scared"?

Agree with this. I'd just stick a caveat on that having kids/getting married adds dependencies so risk tolerance might change after the fact. If you have no dependencies, go for gold.

Do things that could kill you, *then* have kids.