What makes you most excited to wake up in the morning?
Take a second to read the above question again. Look deeper into the meaning of it. It requires much more than an initial thought to obtain an appropriate answer.
A lot of entrepreneurs don’t frequently revisit the Motivation Principle. It should be a requirement considering that we put our blood, sweat, and tears into our daily work. It should always be something we keep in mind – not even intentionally.
The reason is that all good companies are built on meaningful value. The value proposition that you present to your core customers is the best representation of your business model.
So what do you do? Does it fulfill you? Does it excite you everyday?
I bring this up because I’ve had a few conversations recently with young entrepreneurs that first and foremost mention that they “want to get rich;” or that have a “billion dollar idea.” While that sounds attractive at the surface, my investment approach is to look past the idea and identify the value that’s being presented. To me, it’s more about the team and the demographic than it is the idea and iteration.
The day you can transform your Motivation Principle into something like “We help our customers solve problem XYZ” in a passionate way, that’s the day your entrepreneurial career will forever change. You no longer will care about “making a quick buck.” You’ll instead aspire to help people.
… and helping people will always win in the end.