Drive
Drive. What gives entrepreneurs the drive to do what they do? What makes them work hours on end for something that statistically speaking will probably flop? What makes them drop out of school and move back in with their parents to save enough money to finish v1.0 or to land their first angel? Entrepreneurs, young and old, put themselves through something equatable to draconian torture in order to succeed.
I think the most common reason is the prospect of all that money. People love money. If people could get just a little bit more money, well…they’d finally be able to take it to the next level, and work harder to get even more money. But the prospect of money seems to be the most superficial and most fleeting reason to put in work. Over the past year or so I’ve had a few spells of excitement consisting of “Oh wouldn’t it be cool if we made this….” I really think the only reason for that excitement was the prospect of the money. I’ll admit, a lot of these ideas were terrible, not thought out, and never would have worked. Either way, the point is that these ideas I had were fleeting because my only motivation was the money.
Another reason is at the core of human needs; the need to be important. A lot of entrepreneurs satisfy this need by becoming successful. For some, the success is expected of them – the “I have to succeed because my father succeeded” scenario. But for others, myself included, I think we just want to prove to others we can make it on our own. We’re capable of doing great things and we want to prove that to others. I think that’s where I’m at right now. I don’t think I’m extremely talented at some practical skill like coding, design work, or any of that. But I just know I can do something meaningful, and that is my drive. And, at least for now, it will do.
However, I’ve yet to experience the drive I’d like to one day have. This drive is rooted in selflessness. It isn’t about money or making a name for yourself. The drive I’m talking about is the one that lets you help people and change lives. The drive that makes people go years without a good nights sleep. And maybe mine isn’t open-source architecture, as the link suggests, but I hope to one day be working on something because I am driven by the prospect of being able to help people in need, and thus, change the world for the better.
Money can’t buy happiness and someone will always have more. No matter how big of a name you manage to make for yourself, after you leave this world the biggest your name will ever be is determined by the font size of some old forgotten news article. Lives are measured in how many others you’ve changed for the better, and that’s why I want to find something that drives me to do just that.