Ask HN: Entrepreneurs, What Drives You?

12 points by SMAAART ↗ HN
Dear entrepreneurs, what drives you?

[Left it generic and open-ended on purpose]

14 comments

[ 4.0 ms ] story [ 45.7 ms ] thread
existential dread, dying without doing anything important
Adding diversity to revenue streams is the best strategy to overcome sudden life changes which is one of the drives overall.

The excitement from earning money you are directly responsible for is unmatched.

1. Purpose 2. Control: Ability to/Possibility of controlling the flow of events so that it results in a net positive effect 3. Creativity 4. Challenge 5. Adrenaline
Freedom - from politics, to do as I please (as long as I produce), and eventually financially

I answer only to clients (who I have equal power to fire) and sink or swim on my results alone

I’ve had a great career mostly because of the people I’ve worked with. I’d say a huge motivator getting to where I am now has been the chance to gather those people and work with them in a team again.
Freedom. Freedom to work when I want, if I want, on whatever I want, or not at all.

Not dealing with people, offices or maintaining any kind of professional image.

Not sure what to call it, but a sort of liberation knowing I don’t rely on a company or external force to make my way through this life. A sort of stability and certainty I guess.

100% agree. Very much with the freedom part, but also on the dealing with people and offices.

I even founded a company where there's an office with actual humans sitting in chairs and clients needing meetings and so on... and I don't go there more than twice a week. I'm very fortunate in having a partner who enjoys dealing with all that.

The fear of being 100% tied to an external schedule both with my time as well on what should I do each day is what keeps me motivated to be an entrepreneur, even when I'm fully aware I'm missing on the crazy salaries and perks party boat we've been having lately in this industry.

Working according to weather patterns. I don't have to fake productivity according to a fixed schedule.
Sounds like you work outside sir.
I like learning, and entrepreneurship provides unlimited surface area for learning. The problem space is fuzzy, and complex, and building a successful business involves figuring out how all of these fuzzy things interact with and bump into each other.

I can jump in and out, and go as deep into any of the problem areas as I'm interested in going. Once I satisfy my itch, I can hand off the problem area to someone else and throw myself into a new learning opportunity.

As the company changes, solutions that worked previously need to be revisited and improved.

Unlimited. Learning.

I don't have to take any guff. Accelerated personal growth. And I can have a beer at lunch if I want to. Flexible work hours. Freedom to do what I want when I want within reason.