<ol>
<li>Yes and Yes</li>
<li>A PhD will not close you off to industry if the industry is otherwise healthy. </li>
</ol>
<p>Basically, if an industry is healthy, firms shop on talent. Having a PhD in a relevant area will make you more valuable. </p>
<p>If an industry is not healthy, firms with needs shop on price. In this case having a PhD may hinder you because there are few jobs anyway, and there will be people qualified to do those jobs for less money than firms would think would make you happy. Most of the times, these jobs are just maintaining their current market share and involve little innovation because investment dollars aren’t there anyway. </p>
<p>Frankly, I’d do the PhD if you’re interested. Try to work on something lucrative. I have a PhD in EE and have never regretted it, though I will say that in the early 2000s when the startup I was with closed, it was the first time in my life I didn’t have employers chasing me, and it was uncomfortable. I eventually landed just fine.</p>