Gosh I love this post and the topic. It is a DRAMATICALLY under-discussed topic inside of founder communities. I find that few founders give the answer 'to make a lot of money'--if I heard someone say that I would believe them because it is deeply unfashionable to say that right now! Rather, the answer I hear all the time is 'I want to do something that matters' which is a version of the Jobs line 'put a dent in the universe.'
But I hate this line also. It is a safe thing to say, which means that it gets said. But there are a million ways to do meaningful things. Go live off-grid and plant a permaculture garden that improves 10 acres of land. Be the world's best parent. Be a freakin' teacher in Baltimore. So many ways. Almost everyone wants to _make a difference_...that answer is so vanilla that it verges on vacuous. It provides no guidance on: why this thing in particular?
My personal answer has shifted over time. It started as: I love the work and was fascinated by the changes happening in the ecosystem (circa 2014-15). I also wanted a lot more control over my own life / career.
Later answers all start to involve webs of human entanglement. If you think hard about the question "why don't you want to die painlessly in your sleep tonight?" the only real answer (IMO) is: because there are some people in the world for whom that would be a great tragedy. Ultimately, the thing that keeps us all going is each other.
A few years in my motivation at work was all about the team I was building. It was an incredible team and I loved working with these people. Best team I had ever been a part of.
A few years after that it was about the user community. dbt's users were a special group who had made real investments in the product and deserved reciprocal investment from the company backing it.
This may be more than you bargained for in the comments section of this post, but I think the thing you're talking about here (founder motivation) is both deeply important and tragically under-discussed. I think this creates terrible pain in the startup ecosystem overall and for founders as humans and I care about doing what I can to change that.
What intrigues me with tech entrepreneurship is that it seems (from an outsider perspective) to be very much like a "platform". The stages are clear-cut, the metrics are mostly well-understood, the capital is available, the bootcamps/incubators are out there. I initially scoped this essay to include the sort of "social media-based entrepreneurship" that exists on LinkedIn, on Youtube, on Whatnot, etc. (Not to mention here on Substack!) But I think tech entrepreneurship today is actually a special, essential case of this. Not in all cases, but in many.
I don't think this takes anything away from the hustle, talent, craft, etc. at all, but is simply to say that with the collapse of other ways to "make a difference" in communities / elsewhere, it seems entrepreneurship is becoming that path for people, whether or not they will _actually_ make it to the difference-making stage.
Gosh I love this post and the topic. It is a DRAMATICALLY under-discussed topic inside of founder communities. I find that few founders give the answer 'to make a lot of money'--if I heard someone say that I would believe them because it is deeply unfashionable to say that right now! Rather, the answer I hear all the time is 'I want to do something that matters' which is a version of the Jobs line 'put a dent in the universe.'
But I hate this line also. It is a safe thing to say, which means that it gets said. But there are a million ways to do meaningful things. Go live off-grid and plant a permaculture garden that improves 10 acres of land. Be the world's best parent. Be a freakin' teacher in Baltimore. So many ways. Almost everyone wants to _make a difference_...that answer is so vanilla that it verges on vacuous. It provides no guidance on: why this thing in particular?
My personal answer has shifted over time. It started as: I love the work and was fascinated by the changes happening in the ecosystem (circa 2014-15). I also wanted a lot more control over my own life / career.
Later answers all start to involve webs of human entanglement. If you think hard about the question "why don't you want to die painlessly in your sleep tonight?" the only real answer (IMO) is: because there are some people in the world for whom that would be a great tragedy. Ultimately, the thing that keeps us all going is each other.
A few years in my motivation at work was all about the team I was building. It was an incredible team and I loved working with these people. Best team I had ever been a part of.
A few years after that it was about the user community. dbt's users were a special group who had made real investments in the product and deserved reciprocal investment from the company backing it.
This may be more than you bargained for in the comments section of this post, but I think the thing you're talking about here (founder motivation) is both deeply important and tragically under-discussed. I think this creates terrible pain in the startup ecosystem overall and for founders as humans and I care about doing what I can to change that.
Amazing, appreciate the reflections!
What intrigues me with tech entrepreneurship is that it seems (from an outsider perspective) to be very much like a "platform". The stages are clear-cut, the metrics are mostly well-understood, the capital is available, the bootcamps/incubators are out there. I initially scoped this essay to include the sort of "social media-based entrepreneurship" that exists on LinkedIn, on Youtube, on Whatnot, etc. (Not to mention here on Substack!) But I think tech entrepreneurship today is actually a special, essential case of this. Not in all cases, but in many.
I don't think this takes anything away from the hustle, talent, craft, etc. at all, but is simply to say that with the collapse of other ways to "make a difference" in communities / elsewhere, it seems entrepreneurship is becoming that path for people, whether or not they will _actually_ make it to the difference-making stage.
Was also thinking about Venkat Rao's "Entrepeneurs are the new labor" from several years back while I wrote this. (https://www.forbes.com/sites/venkateshrao/2012/09/03/entrepreneurs-are-the-new-labor-part-i/?sh=3424431b4eab)
Also -- thanks for the "Why don't you want to die in your sleep tonight?" line. Will use that as my go-to icebreaker in the future.
Great read, Stephen!
Fun read and I don't even have low standards! 🥁🥁