According to Marc Andreessen, apparently this is so. He goes on so say that successful people who loves what they do are outliers. So the anti-thesis could be “Do what you hate”; which is an odd proposal from the start.
Passion is a fuel. It drives innovation and perseverance. It drives uniqueness and fuels us through differences in opinions. It leads us to discovery beyond the mountains of failure. It was what drove us to explore the savannah and take over the world.The passion that fuels curiosity and powers the very greed that fills the investor’s eyes.
His advice, together with that of Marc Cuban, the other rich Marc, seems to be through their beady investor eyes. If we could hear the echoes from the boardroom which could tell a story of fulfilling financial returns in the quickest way possible. Angel investment is not about helping your dreams to become a reality. It’s about making their money make more money. From this perspective, they do not care about your passion. They care about your promise of returns when you presented your game plan to them. It’s business.
Money doesn’t make the world go round, the greed for money does.
If you are starting out, the last thing you want to be is a slave to money, instead choose to be a slave to your passion. It makes the world a better place and if you are successful in your passion, people like Marc and Marc will come knocking on your door to give you money. It is only then do you have to decide if you would like to sell your soul. They will then take your soul and start changing your dreams for theirs. This is where you could possibly be living in Marc’s anti-thesis, you will be under the investor’s control, doing what you hate so that the investor can earn their buck.
In closing, listen to Nicholas Negroponte talk about starting a life with meaning to make a world a better place.
Sumo Articulations 