SocialBias :: a Digital Abstraction of Michael Parkatti

There’s been a lot of cross-chatter in the blogosphere these days about the feasability of the ‘free’ internet.  People who deride Web 2.0 frame the debate only in its current lack of reliable paths to profit. People who defend Web 2.0 usually point to its social benefits and innovative zeal.  As with most things in life, the true answer lies somewhere in between.

I read a fantastic article from Fast Company entitled What Should I Do With My Life that pretty closely resembles my viewpoint on what we should strive to accomplish.  I think something that entrepreneurs can forget is that their companies are not only tools for wealth creation, but they are also happiness creation machines.

I think the myth that money begets happiness has been sufficiently debunked for most of us (and if not, you’re probably a huge fan of 80s excess, no?).  In most cases, the process of making money goes through a fairly deep path of sacrifice through one’s personal life and mental stability.

I’m reminded of a quote from Citizen Kane, where Mr. Bernstein says, “Well, it’s no trick to make a lot of money, if what you want to do is make a lot of money”.  I interpret that to mean that the trick in making money isn’t the process of making it, it’s the payment in life sacrifices you have to make to get there.

Stop for a second and think about the happiest people you know.  Why are they happy?  They’re probably either deeply in love with someone, or in love with what they do, or have a true passion that overrides everything else in their life.  They’ve diagnosed that one thing that makes them happy, and they can’t help but give off an aura of satisfaction.

I’d say that it would be pretty flippant to suggest that entrepreneurs derive their happiness from the pursuit of wealth creation.  Not many people I’ve met in this business are obsessed with money.  In fact, you can almost tell the fakes in the crowd simply because they’re the ones talking about exits or liquidity events.

Most entrepreneurs do what they do because they’re pursuing their own happiness creation machines, and they hope their efforts help other people derive some happiness as well.

It’s a slight change in mindset that has massive implications:

1. Either you’re an entrepreneur because you want to make money, and are therefore making sacrifices in happiness to pursue that money, or
2. You’re an entrepreneur because you’re following your true passion, and by the very act of doing it, you’re augmenting your overall happiness.

Most mature corporations have devolved into the former — wealth creation machines.  People involved in them probably aren’t truly passionate about what they’re doing, but they figure that trading time for a steady income is worth it.

Most successful startups are the latter — happiness creation machines.  If you’ve ever walked into a startup office that was firing on all cylinders, you’d understand what I’m talking about.  No matter what aspect of being in a startup appeals to them, the people there have found what makes them truly happy.

And the fact that those people are happy has implications across their entire lives.  They’ll enjoy their social interactions more.  They’ll be more optimistic in life.  And they would be resilient against negative circumstances.

Happiness is possible in a corporate environment too, don’t get me wrong — it’s just that the chances that you’ve happened to find your true passion working for an instutution created many years ago are slimmer.  Startups have no formulas to follow, except those written by the founders.  Their happiness is being manifested in their work in real-time.

Odds are your passion is worth something to somebody.  And if you fail while pursuing your happiness, it’s a lot more easy to swallow than if you fail while unhappy.

Yes, some companies will create more wealth than others, and can therefore pay its founders more.  But is making 40 times what you need to live comfortably really all that different than making 20 times what you need to live comfortably?  Once you’ve found your happiness, all that other stuff is just scenery.