Hmm. My takeaway from this article is that the author simply doesn't have a burning passion to change something in the world or build something that should be in the world, and so a startup has not come to mind. Which is the right course of action: do nothing. Just starting a startup for startup's sake is the worst possible reason. And sometimes the startups that are started are flukes, even obnoxious flukes like Harvard's TheFacebook, and the true business emerges because the founder(s) were smart enough to quickly figure out what was going (and catching) on, how the market was reacting, and they pursued that vigorously and executed brilliantly. I consider all the big widely covered stories, WhatsApp, Facebook, Airbnb, etc., random flukes that executed well with grit and a determination not to give up. But I don't find them very inspiring.
All the startups I founded or co-founded (none located in Silicon Valley) were based on a burning desire to build something that wasn't available to the public but SHOULD be, and I was determined to make it available. Once I decided to go forward, nothing could stop me. Made a thousand mistakes, some in the end costing the respective company. But figuring out what to do as a startup was not typically the hard part. Not having enough good people or funding was. I hope to do another startup but right now I don't have any burning passion to build something that's not yet in the world except for stuff related to improving the way the voting public is informed by media (aka stopping how the public is misinformed by media), sustainable energy, improving health, and making people happier. We'll see if something emerges.
author here– agree with many of your points, except two:
1) I think great ideas are surprisingly rare, and are very difficult to recognize. It's especially hard because of how important execution is for 'uncovering' a great idea. Great idea, badly executed = looks like a bad idea
2) I think "burning passion" oversimplifies things. Many great businesses are built without 'passion' for the solution...just a passion for some part of the business...and sometimes that's just recognition of a great financial opportunity.
Completely agree with this point of view. If you don't have an idea, sitting around trying really hard to come up with one sounds like a waste of time (and potentially VC money, but that's probably a lot less important).
Doing your own thing will demand you to be resolute, for most likely longer than you'd like. Struggling to come up with a problem to work on in the first place is not a good sign.
Conviction may be a more accurate word than passion. For example, a conviction that a current and large problem can be solved using recent developments in technology.
Passion can improve determination, a nice boost to a person who is already customer focused. But an entrepreneur who is passionate and not customer focused will likely end up in the weeds.
I've kept a list of company ideas for close to probably twenty years. What works best is to not think of it as a startup but a project. Doing a project is less stressful, easier to commit and easier to quit than a startup. Projects have a way of becoming startups pretty quickly when you get customer demand.
IMHO, and I'm just about starting on this journey myself, there is one way to test the importance or 'bigness' of the idea and whether you should commit to spending time working on it - does the problem affect a large swath of people (at least a 1M+ people?) and are the incumbent players missing out on an angle/aspect of it that you think you can do (significantly) better? The rest is your execution.
I agree that an idea needs to be big enough to be viable but 1M+ is arbitrary. If overall margins are very thin it may take a huge customer base to support a business.
It also depends on the amount of operating income required. One guy in his basement should be trying to solve a simpler problem than a well funded, VC backed startup.
There are plenty of business ideas that work very well without affecting 1M+ people.
Has RED sold cameras to 1M+ people?
Limiting yourself to those ideas is not a good idea.
Stanford's abundance and enabling of ambitions and optimism not enough?
Watching from inside a sand hill money machine didn't work out?
Does it sometimes feel like it has to be Steve Jobs or nothing? And anything less just doesn't stir that inner light and soul?
Just meh?
Yeah, I feel you. I used to get that often.
Maybe this will help, once I asked Steve Jobs how do I earn my own Apple.
He looked at me, sized me up, then said: "either you do or you don't."
I didn't know what to do with that, just took it and mangled it about in my head the past eight years, flipping it every which way to find meaning in every nook and cranny.
Oh, wait, one more thing.
He caveated his statement by finishing with: "the trick is to accept, accept, accept."
Maybe that'll be helpful.
I spent the last sixteen years in the backwaters of Cupertino wanting, dreaming, yearning to start my own company.
I have no money, we ate from the bagged groceries the church handed out on Sundays growing up, my mom doesn't speak english and only three years ago I was able to teach her to drive herself to Marina, I didn't go to college, couldn't afford it, had problem reading books sometimes too.
Worst sin of all, here in silicon valley, I'm pretty dumb.
Give me a calculus problem and I wouldn't know how to solve it. Don't know how to pump out regressions on a spreadsheet. Still don't know how term sheets work. I'm pretty sure every room I have ever been in I was the dumbest one there. Most days I can't even grammar. Or even muster up courage to talk to someone without my right foot involuntarily stomps.
Don't tell me about my limits, I know my limits and replay failures better than anyone else. I've had a whole life time of people telling me about my limits but all I know is this: I want a better life. I want to give better things to those near me. I want to help those around me. I want better, better things, better ways, better options, better choices, better solutions. I want it so bad I'm willing to kill myself to try.
I want to earn my own apple, I want to be a founder, a CEO, and lead so I went everywhere I could, that would have me, and soaked up everything.
Rejected five times from YC, oh well, keep going. Don't know anyone in the valley, be a tech writer, still failed to make any lasting connections, oh well, keep going. Don't know marketing or sales so work for tech startup in SF to learn and try my best, get fired, they then go and get acquired the day after I get asked to sign away my options, oh well, keep going. Taught myself hiding in conference rooms at nights and weekends after work in Mountain View, still get fired, oh well, keep going. Grinded out in Berkeley sixteen hour days, six days weeks, fifteen months in, gave it my absolute all to build, launch, promote, sell, support, maintain a creation and still watched it burn and fail. Oh well, keep going.
One step at a time, right foot, left foot, one at a time.
The tao isn't about being focused on the far distant peaks so much it hurts, nor is it to sit, ponder too long and waste. It's merely just walk the path.
Yesterday you said tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come. Someday is better than one day but any day isn't any better than today.
Either you do make it or you don't.
Maybe you get lucky, maybe you don't.
No one can promise you everything will be okay. My friends have long gone, in the dark of night I'm the only reassuring myself.
After sixteen years things fades away. The stories, the names, the after actions, everything fades away. I learned now it's not that knowing everything will be okay if you have all the cards lined up, advantages stacked in your favor, or have a killer idea, you just have to be okay with whatever happen.
Don't stop helping others. Others will help you.
Build a home for the misfits and the misfits will find ways to fix the fittings.
Don't give up, give in, give out. Then very last thing you see before dying is success.
[+] [-] brianstorms|10 years ago|reply
All the startups I founded or co-founded (none located in Silicon Valley) were based on a burning desire to build something that wasn't available to the public but SHOULD be, and I was determined to make it available. Once I decided to go forward, nothing could stop me. Made a thousand mistakes, some in the end costing the respective company. But figuring out what to do as a startup was not typically the hard part. Not having enough good people or funding was. I hope to do another startup but right now I don't have any burning passion to build something that's not yet in the world except for stuff related to improving the way the voting public is informed by media (aka stopping how the public is misinformed by media), sustainable energy, improving health, and making people happier. We'll see if something emerges.
[+] [-] samg|10 years ago|reply
2) I think "burning passion" oversimplifies things. Many great businesses are built without 'passion' for the solution...just a passion for some part of the business...and sometimes that's just recognition of a great financial opportunity.
[+] [-] hunvreus|10 years ago|reply
Doing your own thing will demand you to be resolute, for most likely longer than you'd like. Struggling to come up with a problem to work on in the first place is not a good sign.
[+] [-] paulsutter|10 years ago|reply
Conviction may be a more accurate word than passion. For example, a conviction that a current and large problem can be solved using recent developments in technology.
Passion can improve determination, a nice boost to a person who is already customer focused. But an entrepreneur who is passionate and not customer focused will likely end up in the weeds.
[+] [-] rmason|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] blizkreeg|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kdevrou|10 years ago|reply
It also depends on the amount of operating income required. One guy in his basement should be trying to solve a simpler problem than a well funded, VC backed startup.
[+] [-] Tepix|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rdlecler1|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] untilHellbanned|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] samg|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] seethamy|10 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alaskamiller|10 years ago|reply
Stanford's abundance and enabling of ambitions and optimism not enough?
Watching from inside a sand hill money machine didn't work out?
Does it sometimes feel like it has to be Steve Jobs or nothing? And anything less just doesn't stir that inner light and soul?
Just meh?
Yeah, I feel you. I used to get that often.
Maybe this will help, once I asked Steve Jobs how do I earn my own Apple.
He looked at me, sized me up, then said: "either you do or you don't."
I didn't know what to do with that, just took it and mangled it about in my head the past eight years, flipping it every which way to find meaning in every nook and cranny.
Oh, wait, one more thing.
He caveated his statement by finishing with: "the trick is to accept, accept, accept."
Maybe that'll be helpful.
I spent the last sixteen years in the backwaters of Cupertino wanting, dreaming, yearning to start my own company.
I have no money, we ate from the bagged groceries the church handed out on Sundays growing up, my mom doesn't speak english and only three years ago I was able to teach her to drive herself to Marina, I didn't go to college, couldn't afford it, had problem reading books sometimes too.
Worst sin of all, here in silicon valley, I'm pretty dumb.
Give me a calculus problem and I wouldn't know how to solve it. Don't know how to pump out regressions on a spreadsheet. Still don't know how term sheets work. I'm pretty sure every room I have ever been in I was the dumbest one there. Most days I can't even grammar. Or even muster up courage to talk to someone without my right foot involuntarily stomps.
Don't tell me about my limits, I know my limits and replay failures better than anyone else. I've had a whole life time of people telling me about my limits but all I know is this: I want a better life. I want to give better things to those near me. I want to help those around me. I want better, better things, better ways, better options, better choices, better solutions. I want it so bad I'm willing to kill myself to try.
I want to earn my own apple, I want to be a founder, a CEO, and lead so I went everywhere I could, that would have me, and soaked up everything.
Rejected five times from YC, oh well, keep going. Don't know anyone in the valley, be a tech writer, still failed to make any lasting connections, oh well, keep going. Don't know marketing or sales so work for tech startup in SF to learn and try my best, get fired, they then go and get acquired the day after I get asked to sign away my options, oh well, keep going. Taught myself hiding in conference rooms at nights and weekends after work in Mountain View, still get fired, oh well, keep going. Grinded out in Berkeley sixteen hour days, six days weeks, fifteen months in, gave it my absolute all to build, launch, promote, sell, support, maintain a creation and still watched it burn and fail. Oh well, keep going.
One step at a time, right foot, left foot, one at a time.
The tao isn't about being focused on the far distant peaks so much it hurts, nor is it to sit, ponder too long and waste. It's merely just walk the path.
Yesterday you said tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come. Someday is better than one day but any day isn't any better than today.
Either you do make it or you don't.
Maybe you get lucky, maybe you don't.
No one can promise you everything will be okay. My friends have long gone, in the dark of night I'm the only reassuring myself.
After sixteen years things fades away. The stories, the names, the after actions, everything fades away. I learned now it's not that knowing everything will be okay if you have all the cards lined up, advantages stacked in your favor, or have a killer idea, you just have to be okay with whatever happen.
Don't stop helping others. Others will help you.
Build a home for the misfits and the misfits will find ways to fix the fittings.
Don't give up, give in, give out. Then very last thing you see before dying is success.
[+] [-] meesterdude|10 years ago|reply