None of the people you site were in anything resembling a desperate situation. HP was founded by 2 college fellowship students. TJ Watson was the frontman for NCR before moving to lead IBM. And Woz was so comfortable at HP that he was reluctant to leave to start a company. All these people were financially well-heeled. They all took risks starting a company, but not out of financial desperation.

The one person you didn't mention that even remotely fits the profile of desperate entrepreneur is Steve Jobs, which you failed to include.