David Askaripour at Mind Pedals blog posed this question to the readers:
How Much $$$ Would It Take You to Stop Being an Entrepreneur?
Hey, what’s in your suitcase?
There is a 10 million dollars cash in this suitcase.
What’s it for?
It’s for you! If you give me your company and sign a contract to never start another company, never push forward with another idea, and to basically be complacent and give up business altogether… I’ll give you this cash. What do you say?
It’s true, there are two types of entrepreneurs in this world: the ones that do it all for the experience, to make a difference and to solve a problem and the ones that do it all for the money.
Personally, I’m the former of the two. I want to come up with a solution to that quirky problem that no one thought was actually a problem until they came across my service/product.
I want the experience of being my own boss, of working from the garage and running the show. There’s something inside of me that longs for that feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.
My motivation is that feeling, not the money.
Having said that, money is not bad either and it will come with success. It’s bad when you think it’s all about the money.
David finishes his thoughts with:
Their “end” is money and their business is a means to that end. True entrepreneurs have no end. They would rather die than throw in the towel for life and accept 10 mil’.
How about you?
Joel
over 2 years ago
This is an interesting idea that you have raised and one I've thought about before, though perhaps not in the same way.
The primary motivation of why I do what I do isn't the money, that's a nice "side effect" if you will. What interests me more is the challenge, the problem solving, the use of my brain for "good". I spent six months in a rotation (I'm a graduate engineer with an Australia electricity distribution and retail company) that was not challenging my brain. As a result I bit the bullet and headed two hours north on the highway, away from family and friends, to undertake my next six month rotation at what has been described as one of the most technically challenging locations in the company. It most definitely has been a worthwhile experience.
On to a bigger question that you posed – that of retirement from challenge for money, no more ventures of any description. Regardless of what I was thinking that is not something I could ever do, nor would I ever want to (and ten million wouldn't even get me thinking about truly taking it). It would be a different ball game if the contract was a limited time (say a year or two) and only in the area that the business originally was in (strict definition that one, in the contract). Without those two I couldn't accept.
Money is only a means of living, it is not the sole reason to live. What is mine? Thirst for knowledge and a desire to be challenged in whatever I do by the best people in that area. Am I on track? Given who I enjoy hanging around, talking with and making friends with I would hope so.