My motivation was not, and has never been about the money. I think it would have been too easy to be distracted by early <$5m acquihire opportunities, if I were looking to get paid a bunch of money. I realize that is not the point you are making (and that shooting for the moon might be worth it if you are motivated by money) but I do think a lot of people might see $1B and think “gosh, that sounds hard, maybe I could do $1m” and the answer is you can, sorta, but it is dumb and not worth it to try.
My motivations were more about the, um, “glory”—I always wanted to build something big, I thought it was possible when few others did, and I also thought it would be really fun to try. I didn’t perceive starting a company as “risky” at all, since I was otherwise a successful software developer, plus my parents were rich enough to support me. It might be harder to dive into building something big if you don’t have that kind of support. I did also have altruistic motivations, although they were fairly weak in the first few years—they’ve grown a lot since!
Things I learned:
My first 2 years working on startups were working on failed ideas, but I learned an enormous amount about product, culture, teamwork and even coding which translated directly into early effectiveness once we hit on an idea that worked. Don’t be afraid to pivot.
And my pledge is 10%, although I expect more like 50-75% to go to useful world-improving things but don’t want to pledge it because then I’m constrained by what other people think is effective.
My motivation was not, and has never been about the money.
...I do think a lot of people might see $1B and think “gosh, that sounds hard, maybe I could do $1m” and the answer is you can, sorta, but it is dumb and not worth it to try.
I always wanted to build something big, I thought it was possible when few others did, and I also thought it would be really fun to try.
To clarify, are you saying you expect that a mindset for getting money has drawbacks, for example it might promote patterns where ultimately people rationalize small, marginal projects for $1M.
Instead, maybe a useful alternative is to get genuinely interested in building something big and awesome, so a product mindset helps?
When we reached product market fit in 2014 I wrote this post about startup skills, which might be useful for others (note: is quite old now, don’t endorse everything etc)
Would you briefly describe a few things from that article that you wouldn’t endorse now?
More questions that maybe aren’t really EA Forum related but relevant to the premise of the post:
Was there some feeling or realization that caused you to think you were more likely to be successful at entrepreneurship than others? For example, maybe became aware you were a much better coder, understood products better than others. (I think I want to understand what signals people can use to tell if they are likely to be successful).
I think I know you are in product, but when you started realizing Wave was really truly successful and was scaling, was there anything you found personally surprising in the business? (E.g. did you feel like “being nice” worked well and scaled well, any tough decisions you did not expect, or things that were easier than you expected?)
I expect more like 50-75% to go to useful world-improving things but don’t want to pledge it because then I’m constrained by what other people think is effective.
(You might just be speaking literally and are being prudent) but do you have some area or projects that might be interesting for people to know about?
Finally, I’m not sure how business development goes down on the Forum, but under what circumstances would you considering mentoring or giving feedback on a deck?
a mindset for getting money has drawbacks, for example it might promote patterns where ultimately people rationalize small, marginal projects for $1M.; Instead, maybe a useful alternative is to get genuinely interested in building something big and awesome, so a product mindset helps?
Yes. (Sorry for the bad writing, it was late and I was tired.)
I think the best entrepreneurs get a bit of a boost in motivation from the idea of becoming rich, but the more “rich”-oriented you are, the less likely it is that you will make billions of dollars.
Was there some feeling or realization that caused you to think you were more likely to be successful at entrepreneurship than others?
Hmm, I wanted to be an entrepreneur from the moment I understood it was possible. I don’t think this is a necessary condition for success, but I think it gives a lot of energy towards trying (and especially trying multiple times if you fail). A small project I’ve had for the last 5+ years is figuring out who among my friends should be entrepreneurs, and trying to inject a mind-virus to get them to actually do it. My instinct is that you should be motivated by “impact” of some kind (it’s ok if it’s not purely altruistic); willing to work hard. You should be good at something too, but I think that can come with time if you are sufficiently motivated. In my case I was both good at coding and good at self-improvement, these things definitely compounded.
do you have some area or projects that might be interesting for people to know about?
Not as such, nothing to announce right now
under what circumstances would you considering mentoring or giving feedback on a deck
I don’t really like reviewing decks. I’m generally happy to answer a few questions/give entrepreneurship advice over email; my email is pretty easy to find!
Thanks for your comment! Super interesting to hear all that.
And my pledge is 10%, although I expect more like 50-75% to go to useful world-improving things but don’t want to pledge it because then I’m constrained by what other people think is effective.
Amazing! Glory to you :) I’ve added this to the post.
Hi! It’s neat to be mentioned!
My motivation was not, and has never been about the money. I think it would have been too easy to be distracted by early <$5m acquihire opportunities, if I were looking to get paid a bunch of money. I realize that is not the point you are making (and that shooting for the moon might be worth it if you are motivated by money) but I do think a lot of people might see $1B and think “gosh, that sounds hard, maybe I could do $1m” and the answer is you can, sorta, but it is dumb and not worth it to try.
My motivations were more about the, um, “glory”—I always wanted to build something big, I thought it was possible when few others did, and I also thought it would be really fun to try. I didn’t perceive starting a company as “risky” at all, since I was otherwise a successful software developer, plus my parents were rich enough to support me. It might be harder to dive into building something big if you don’t have that kind of support. I did also have altruistic motivations, although they were fairly weak in the first few years—they’ve grown a lot since!
Things I learned:
My first 2 years working on startups were working on failed ideas, but I learned an enormous amount about product, culture, teamwork and even coding which translated directly into early effectiveness once we hit on an idea that worked. Don’t be afraid to pivot.
When we reached product market fit in 2014 I wrote this post about startup skills, which might be useful for others (note: is quite old now, don’t endorse everything etc) https://www.lincolnquirk.com/projects/2014/06/02/projects_startup-skills-checklis.html
And my pledge is 10%, although I expect more like 50-75% to go to useful world-improving things but don’t want to pledge it because then I’m constrained by what other people think is effective.
Hello! If you have time for questions:
To clarify, are you saying you expect that a mindset for getting money has drawbacks, for example it might promote patterns where ultimately people rationalize small, marginal projects for $1M.
Instead, maybe a useful alternative is to get genuinely interested in building something big and awesome, so a product mindset helps?
Would you briefly describe a few things from that article that you wouldn’t endorse now?
More questions that maybe aren’t really EA Forum related but relevant to the premise of the post:
Was there some feeling or realization that caused you to think you were more likely to be successful at entrepreneurship than others? For example, maybe became aware you were a much better coder, understood products better than others. (I think I want to understand what signals people can use to tell if they are likely to be successful).
I think I know you are in product, but when you started realizing Wave was really truly successful and was scaling, was there anything you found personally surprising in the business? (E.g. did you feel like “being nice” worked well and scaled well, any tough decisions you did not expect, or things that were easier than you expected?)
(You might just be speaking literally and are being prudent) but do you have some area or projects that might be interesting for people to know about?
Finally, I’m not sure how business development goes down on the Forum, but under what circumstances would you considering mentoring or giving feedback on a deck?
Yes. (Sorry for the bad writing, it was late and I was tired.)
I think the best entrepreneurs get a bit of a boost in motivation from the idea of becoming rich, but the more “rich”-oriented you are, the less likely it is that you will make billions of dollars.
Hmm, I wanted to be an entrepreneur from the moment I understood it was possible. I don’t think this is a necessary condition for success, but I think it gives a lot of energy towards trying (and especially trying multiple times if you fail). A small project I’ve had for the last 5+ years is figuring out who among my friends should be entrepreneurs, and trying to inject a mind-virus to get them to actually do it. My instinct is that you should be motivated by “impact” of some kind (it’s ok if it’s not purely altruistic); willing to work hard. You should be good at something too, but I think that can come with time if you are sufficiently motivated. In my case I was both good at coding and good at self-improvement, these things definitely compounded.
Not as such, nothing to announce right now
I don’t really like reviewing decks. I’m generally happy to answer a few questions/give entrepreneurship advice over email; my email is pretty easy to find!
Thanks for your comment! Super interesting to hear all that.
Amazing! Glory to you :) I’ve added this to the post.