Passion or Money First?
Last weekend, the folks [1] from Jakarta Founders Institute organized an interesting open discussion session that discussed whether passion or money should come first for entrepreneurs. It’s an interesting debate, and here aren’t any right or wrong answers.
But as I have noted expressed myself on Twitter, I believe passion should come first for entrepreneurs. My first venture (an educational business) was mainly motivated by money. Admittedly, I didn’t really have passion to educate the younger generation. Financially, the company was ok but I wasn’t too satisfied with my work. I left after five years and the business was eventually sold off. It was a relief.
先週、Jakarta Founders Instituteの同士達[1]は、興味深いオープンディスカッションの場を設け、事業家にとって大切なのは、熱意なのか、それともマネーなのか、を話し合った。これは面白い討論内容で、そこには正しい答えや間違った答えなどない。
だが、私はTwitter上でも私なりの視点を述べたのだが、事業家にとっては熱意が何よりも大切だと私は考える。私の初めての事業(教育関連事業)では、金がメインのモチベーションであった。疑いもなく、私は若者層を教育することにかける熱意など持ってはいなかった。財政的に見て、当企業はまずまずの業績を上げていたが、私は自分自身の仕事に関して満足感を得ていなかった。私は5年後この仕事を辞め、この事業は最終的には売却された。私は安堵の胸をなでおろした。
先週末、Jakarta Founders Institute の出身者たちがとある興味深い公開討論会を開いた。起業家たちにとって情熱と金、どちらが第一であるべきかを議論したのである。それは面白い討論で、正しい答えも間違った答えもなかった。
しかし私は Twitter で主張したとおり、起業家たちは情熱が先であるべきだと信じている。私が起こした最初のベンチャー企業(教育ビジネスの会社)は主に金が動機だった。正直、若い世代を教育することにそんなに熱意を持っていなかった。財政的にはその会社はうまく回っていたが、仕事にあまり満足できていなかった。5年経ったのち、ついに売却してしまった。ほっとした。
I didn’t understand what went wrong until I started to take interest in digital media. This blog started out as a hobby before it became serious. We changed focus a couple of times. I didn’t want to settle down on something that I wasn’t taking any real interest in. I kept searching for the sweet spot. Thankfully, I found it. Being able to explore, learn, and tell the stories of tech and startups in Asia is fun and exciting. It became something that I feel very passionate about.
Passion improves the “quality of life” of an entrepreneur. Working 16 hours each day is fine, if it feels good if you’re working on something that you are really passionate about; if you believe that you’re creating real value for people. Passion keeps the entrepreneur going. It also keeps the team going. It is contagious. If the passion is genuine, it will spread across to the team members. Founders will inspire the core team members who will then inspire the new members.
If passion is missing in the equation, it makes life tough and less colorful. The culture wouldn’t be complete. Your users and customers wouldn’t feel that your product offering is sincere either. Passion isn’t tangible nor measurable but it is an important piece that makes a startup well-oiled and “equipped.”
I’m also a realist. Passion can’t feed you. We all have to somehow find the money to pay our bills. Money is important. But making money without passion is seriously boring. And you probably can’t make money without first being passionate about your product. Your customers wouldn’t trust you. But there are times where money overcomes passion. It is usually at the later stage of the startup cycle though, when passion dies down and the money is there for you to grab, exit, and enjoy life. But as a budding entrepreneur, I believe passion should be the starting point. It’s the fuel that keeps entrepreneurs going.If you haven’t found something that you’re passionate about, keep searching.As the late Steve Jobs said.
You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart
— Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address.
文頭の「先週」ですが、「先週末」へと訂正させてください。失礼致しました。
了解しました。ありがとうございます。