The Myth of Changing the World

Building a company is hard work. Be clear what you want. So many entrepreneurs start something without a solid idea of what they want to achieve. Some want to fundamentally change the world. Others want to make a lot of money. We know individuals who have succeeded with either goal. Of course, most of us want to achieve a little of both.

It helps to know why you’re starting a company. Because when you run into the inevitable dip, you’ll make the right decision. You might decide to call it quits because you don’t see a way through the obstacles or you might tough it out because you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Either way you choose, try to be faithful to your original goals.

What doesn’t work is when conflicted entrepreneurs, who set out to make money, change their goals when they encounter the dip. They then start talking about how money isn’t everything. They proclaim that getting rich isn’t important to them. That changing the world is what they’re really after.

We hear a lot of folks talk about changing the world. Is that really what they set out to do from the beginning? Is that really what they purposefully decided when they launched their startup? How many are being true to their original purpose? How many are just rationalizing why they haven’t quit yet?

It helps to know that you can always quit quickly and start anew if you’re just trying to make money.

Comments

[Joseph Sherman]

I agree with you that entrepreneurs should have clear purposes. But I do think that people can change their plans. Business does not happen in a vacuum. Life happens; people get married, have children, gain and loose health and wealth. One friend left a prestigious but low paying position in the non-profit sector for corporate life after a divorce because the non-profit job could not support a one-income family.