Success may not matter if you aren't doing what you love

zerobees

I'm not trying to gatekeep or belittle the author, but there's something funny about this genre of articles that assert with utmost conviction what it takes to be successful in business. Of course, we all have opinions, but this piece doesn't say "here's what I think". It says, more or less, "here's how you succeed". There are two things that are undoubtedly beneficial. The first one is a degree of unreasonable optimism or arrogance that pushes some people to try while everyone else is sitting in comfy armchairs, explaining why the idea is boring or can't work. The second is a financial safety net, so that you can try and try again. As for everything else, it's reading tea leaves. There are folks who believe you need to be like Steve Jobs. There are people think you need to be like Elon Musk, or Bill Gates, or Dario Amodei, or Sergey Brin, or Warren Buffett. Good luck reconciling that.

ericls

Success is not a defined term.

hahahaa

He assumes the lanes are thinner than they are. I am an introvert but love the idea of speaking at a conference. I am happy to help a struggling customer whon doesnt know what HTML is and work on a high performing lean team. I do have some hard nos though. A freedom sucking job (lots of travel to places I don't want to be) or 90h weeks is a no for me.

gnabgib

Your entire history seems to be self-promotion, you're aware of the guidelines? > Please don't use HN primarily for promotion. It's ok to post your own stuff part of the time, but the primary use of the site should be for curiosity. Perhaps you could submit something you're curious about, instead? https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

junkaccount

Watch this: https://youtu.be/i4gvIeA3RcI?si=0VWnkXtih-DXfsHl , this line of thinking that I have to find my calling is not good.

ElProlactin

There are way too many straw man examples in this article that it distracts from the point the author is trying to make. A former jazz pianist and Buddhist monk who used psychedelics, the Spanish-speaker trying to sell into a Chinese-speaking market, the introvert selling to enterprise buyers who love going to steakhouses and watching the Yankees from box seats, etc. Interestingly, two words that aren't mentioned even once in this entire article: "co-founder" and "hire". Very few people singlehandedly build the type of businesses the author is talking about. They team up with and recruit other people to join them so that they can focus on what they do best and fill in the gaps with other people's talent.

antilimit

this was a really good read and something I feel like I needed to hear as well. definitely has helped with how I should approach a project im working on - and I'm heavily on that introvert axis.. thanks for sharing.

CosmicShadow

Great article, finally something worth reading fully on here. As a serial entrepreneur this definitely hits home and is something I've had to learn the hard way over my 17 years of entrepreneurship. Just because you come across a great opportunity and you have the skills and gusto to make it happen doesn't mean it's a good fit. If you don't give a shit about the idea/problem/market it doesn't matter if you are good at every aspect of the business, it will be a slog and you just won't care and will set yourself up to fail sooner or later.

Fotis-Karmpas

to be honest i think life is about the thrill of seeking and achieving not the destination. i feel no matter what you do if it takes so much of your time and freedom you won't end up loving it.

jongjong

For me, success always matters because achieving success is what I love doing most. Unfortunately, it's been over 10 years since I last experienced success... And that was minor success. Most people wouldn't even consider it success. I feel like I've had essentially zero control over my career since then.