How important is it to be passionate about the problem your business is solving?

Fernando Pessagno
36 replies
If I'm being completely honest, I have built a successful resume maker tool but I'm not passionate at all about resumes. Although it is really rewarding to help people in something as important as their job search, what I am really passionate about is building cool things online and the potential of building a lifestyle business that would allow me to be a time millionaire. But I always wonder how it would feel when both boxes are checked- when you are passionate about the problem you are solving AND passionate about building your own business. Sometimes what you're passionate about is not economically feasible- I would love to develop video games but the market is already saturated. Although having a successful business could leave room for me to use my free time to follow my passion. Then the line can get blurry- am I passionate about the problem my product is trying to solve or passionate about the result of solving that problem? I don't actually care about resumes but I work on it with passion because of the possible outcome ... what is the difference then? I'm sure there are plenty of people on this forum who have had a great money-making idea and went for it. But that's not necessarily in niche that you feel passionate about. What do you think is the extent to which a business can be hindered when the founder(s) have no passion for the problem the business is solving? Do you think it even matters?

Replies

Darwin Binesh
I think it’s always tricky at first. Balancing what you love enough to do every day vs what makes money. Sometimes a passion is within what you live. Maybe you can create something related to video games and excites you, but necessarily a game. As long as the founder is the driving force, they have to be motivated enough. For some money is motivating enough. For others, passion has to be there. Good question! Good luck
Fernando Pessagno
@darwin_binesh I completely agree! It can be tough to find that perfect balance. I think the important thing is to not give up on what you're passionate about, but also be realistic. Not every passion can turn into a money-making career and that's okay.
Darwin Binesh
@fer_momento yea I agree. I think it’s (or order) - what can I do every day - that cab also be monetized - in a niche I’m passionate about. Hope that helps!!
Bernard Badó
Not necessary. But it helps tremendously. Here's why. - You know the problem better than everyone - If it solves your problem, it's already validated - It keeps you going because of your interest
Maria Hayat
Honestly speaking, I think we work better if we're passionate about the problem our business is solving. It doesn't have to be every aspect of the business- as you said for you it's rewarding to help people in their job search- you may not love building resumes, but it's that part that probably drives you.
Fernando Pessagno
@maria_hayat I think you make a valid point. For some people, such as myself, the satisfaction of knowing we are providing a valuable service or product may be enough to replace the "passion" factor to certain extent.
Yassin Bouacherine
Passion often comes out when there is a new strain of informationcoming to feed the concept. It's extremely easy to be passionate about something for the first few weeks you start learning new stuff. Real passion comes up when you are able to feed your product for a much longer period of time. When you get to the point of having a vision of your product in the future and you are able to imagine it in your mind with all the potential it could be. Then you could call yourself a real passionate. It has to come to a stage where it feels there is almost no limit to the level of iteration your product could undergo and go beyond your own expectations. The only limiting factor is your time and resources to integrate such features. On the other side, if you ain't passionate but you are a monster at solving issues and have a great execution at providing a solution at the right time, then actually it might be as good if not better. Passion comes at a cost that not many talks about, it takes too much time and risk since it usually comes with a long-term approach. The results would appear probably a decade later. Depending on how many resources you have, it's an extremely risky bet. I think they are two different worlds between passionate people and dispassionate ones. If you would put two of these people to work together, it won't necessarily work. The compromises might be a deal breaker for the passionate person and he would lose interest in the project. On the other side, being too long-term the process for the dispassionate would drive him nuts, and would probably seek something he could fix in much shorter terms. The best compromise to make it work would be to not lose the vision but work on pieces of work that can be implemented right now. That would make the two agree on that. If you can find someone that is passionate about what he does, that's a huge PLUS. They are usually ahead on what's working on not because they went in-depth on some concept that may be boring to death to some. They did their own research and experimentation within a timeframe that is way more important than someone that may not have this passion for it. That's the same principle for those who are passionate about history and those who are not. The amount of data and the way they intertwine each element of history is just one universe ahead of those who don't have that passion. That's my take! ;D
Saif Khan
If you're a silent investor, don't bother. However, if you're the one leading the ship, you must feel passionate about the problem. So does, your teammates, especially product managers and product designers, if they do not experience the problem the same way your customers do, then I'm sorry to say my friend - the business is doomed to fail.
Alberto Di Risio
In my opinion, you need to be passionate about what you are building, not the industry or problem you solve. Example: you can be passionate about scaling your website to X visits / month or X $ / month, but not be passionate about the topic you cover. You'll enjoy testing new strategies, tolls, see what works, and growth the project or business. You might need understanding of what problem you solve or the value you can bring, but not necessarily passion. May not be true for everyone though, probably something that can be very different for each individual.
Reda Labdaoui
I think it's not important that you be passionate about that specific problem, because at the end of the day it's not about you, it's about what the market really wants, I'm not saying that you shouldn't be passionate about it but I am just saying it's not very important. I think you should be passionate about problem-solving in general, that's how you deliver an exceptional customer experience.
Lirian Ostrovica
From someone who named his company CodePassion. Many years later, my advise is: Be careful, strong passion will impair your vision. You better enjoy the journey, but unless you are a royal or something, you got have a clear eye on the destination.
Brian Wadley
Very hard question but like everyone is saying it all comes down to how passionate you are about fixing this problem and seeing it all the way through. But you are staying true to your goal which is to make money that's something you're passionate about and you've created something that helps others and helps you get a step closer to your goal of a million.
clark jenifer
I second that From someone who named his company CodePassion. Many years later, my advise is: Be careful, strong passion will impair your vision. Regards: mygbapps
Stefani Sparysheva
Honestly, I think it's not possible to stay passionate all the time when building a product or a business. Still, it IS possible to be passionate about small steps at a time. This is how the passion is built, I believe.
Launching soon!
If you're passionate about doing something just for the money, you'll be more motivated to do the work necessary to make that money. If you're passionate about the growth of your business and its mission, you will always take care of your customers, add value for them, and try to create a lasting legacy, etc.
Hamid Khan
A market needs a champion who is willing to focus all his time, energy and resources on making the market successful. He must be so enthralled by the market's promise that he can’t imagine doing anything else; he must be in love with the market.
Arend van Beelen
I think being passionate is important in the sense it will help you excel for reasons others already mentioned. But it's not a necessity; as long as you have some affinity with the problem I think you may have what it takes to thrive.
Andrew Flint
Passion is a powerful motivator, but for most people it should be a means to an end, not an end in itself. If you are passionate about the problem your business is solving, you're going to be more motivated to work hard to solve it. For example, if you're passionate about finding a cure for cancer, then it's likely you'll spend the time and effort necessary. Maybe you'll spend 80+ hours a week to find a cure. If you're passionate about doing something just for the money, then you'll be more motivated to do the work necessary to make that money. If you're passionate about your business and the mission it serves, then you're going to be more motivated to grow it, hire more great people, create a lasting legacy, etc.
Marin Smiljanic
I'd say that your combination of passion (passionate about solving the problem, but not the resumes themselves) is more than fine. After all, Bezos was passionate about the Internet as a solution and found the problem (selling books) that fit: https://stratechery.com/2021/the... If you weren't passionate about either you'd just be prone to quitting and doing something else. And also, keep in mind that passion is boosted by traction. :)
Vitaliy K
The market is saturated and this is true, but this does not mean that you cannot offer a solution to your customers from a different angle. Usually customers look at the value of the product and the price, and if everything is in order, then they will choose your product, not a competitor. Try to go in this direction and then you will not end up with clients
Oslea
I don't think passion is the right word. Instead, it seems more correct to put the approach to the problem, respect and struggle in the first place. It's kind of gamification.
Nat
Customers can smell it when there's zero passion, and it hinders going the 110% required to make a stand-out business. You can probably get away with it and still make yourself enough time/money for it to be worth it, but it's risky and unlikely to create a lasting brand. I would agree with many where -- passion for the problem / market is often more important than the product itself as a founder, especially in the early days. If you're too obsessed with the product, you're going to be less flexible to customer and market feedback, less likely to experiment. You're going to be a product in search of a problem, which I've seen fail in the VC space many times. "I am passionate about video games and therefore will find a problem to solve with one" < "I am passionate about this particular gap in education and believe the type of video game ____ is the the right solution" BONUS -- provided you're passionate about the problem, if choosing between possible solutions that seem fairly equally viable, definitely helps to choose a solution medium you're passionate about as well.
Julia Putzeys
I agree that it's not necessary to be passionate about your product, but it definitely makes things easier, and the day-to-day grind more fun. I've worked on many products throughout my career that I was interested in, but not passionate about. Now that I have the chance to work on my passion product, it has completely shifted my perspective. At this point, I'm not sure if I would be able to go back to building products that I didn't have a strong passion for.