A young founder and friend came to me for advice about his business. He wasn't seeing any momentum. He saw competitors thriving and lamented, "But it seems like they just don't care."
Ouch. I winced because I knew how he felt. I had felt it too.
Why should our competitors have the upper hand when they are cold and soulless? Why should they succeed and not us, when we care so much more about our endeavors?
The myth of the passionate founder
I’ve learned that many founders didn't go to business school or have any interest in learning how to start a business before they jumped in.
Instead, they made their way from consumer to maker (hobbyist) to business owner.
Consumers want to buy from passionate founders, because of the way businesses have been marketed to them.
Stories of eccentric founders who are obsessed with quality and filled with zealous fire about saving the world can be found on the about pages of nearly every brand across multiple industries.
Some of these stories might be true. But I can guarantee you a healthy percentage of them are made up — or at least doctored. In my work as a designer, I've helped dozens of brands craft stories to appeal to their audiences. Brands often twist the truth, craft beautiful narratives, and entice with empathic messages to hold the attention of a crowd.
So when consumers start creating, it's understandable that it seems like the most necessary ingredient for business is the one that was most heavily marketed to them as consumers — passion.
An unfortunate truth: Passion is now more than just a word. It is a brand in itself. Possibly even a religion. It has imagery and associated sentiment.
Many people think that if we are not being passionate in a culturally specified way, we simply do not care at all. But that couldn’t be farther from reality.
Caring doesn't help you win the game
On that blazing hot summer day, standing on the asphalt in conversation with my young founder friend, I realized something rather obvious:
Caring doesn't help you win the game.
Once I said it, my friend stopped talking and stared at me, a little stunned.
Okay, let's imagine that you are playing a game of checkers with an opponent. Will caring more about the rules, where the game is played, and how the board is placed help you win? No. Being good at checkers is what helps you win the game.
And from my experience, business isn't all that different.
On mercenary capitalists
I once lamented to my own friend and mentor about how unhappy I was. The industry I work in was moving in a direction that clashed with my personal values.
He laughed at me warmly and said, "I'm a mercenary capitalist. They can think whatever they want about me."
I probably gave him the same stunned look that my young founder friend gave me in the parking lot. I had heard so many negative remarks about the term, "mercenary capitalist" and wondered why anyone would want to identify themselves that way.
But seeing someone I respect identify call himself one put something in alignment for me. Over the 10 years we've worked together, I've seen how hard he works to have a high-quality product, packaging, and service. He's also the best boss I've ever had, and in my eyes, treats every single one of his employees justly.
He might call himself a mercenary, but he understands the necessity of caring enough. The mistake he doesn't make is caring too much or placing an undue amount of emphasis on heavily marketed but hard-to-define traits like passion. (What is passion anyway? A state of excessive emotion?)
I realized why he doesn't care about being labeled as passionate, or as a mercenary, or anything else.
It’s because he knows what he is: a professional.
Conclusion
Do you remember the original Fast and Furious movie? That was the first time I was introduced to the concept of NOS. Whenever the driver was about to lose, he would yell, "NOS!" and press a button that released nitrous oxide gas which would give the car an extra boost of power.
I apologize that this is the best example I can think of, but NOS is just how I’m seeing passion now. It’s useful in the sense that it can provide an extra boost to your machine when you need it. It can sometimes even get you across the finish line just in time to beat the other guy.
But if your machine is otherwise junk or has been poorly maintained, no amount of NOS is going to make the thing run.
Passion in business acts in a very similar way. Sometimes you'll need it to help you get over the hurdles you're about to face.
But passion can't make your operation run.
Of course, it is important to care.
But I wonder — Have we been sold too many myths over our lifespan as consumers?
I think we have, and the Myth of the Passionate Founder is one of them.
...the greatful dead parking lot i saw last week was also filled with a ton of passion...and nos...and based on the noodling and twirly dances i saw i am pretty sure all of the performance was extremely enhanced for the souls who partook in the "street racing"...but true to your words if your business is only nitrous (passion) you will eventually run out of steam (and take mushrooms)...all this really is to say is that any analogy that makes use of vin diesel is a great one...and here's to keeping our cars out of the shop and on the road...
I think you're elevating an important point for anyone considering a career as a biz owner Leslie. Just noticed that if you look at the word "passion" all the letters are there as a subset of the word ProfeSSIONAl. So being professional is more than just passion. It's passion plus the addition of more elements and competencies. Left over are the letters "R" "O" "L" "F" & "E" - Would be cool to come up with an acronym and what each of the additional letters represent to explain how being a professional is larger than just passion.
Maybe?
-Risk
-Opportunity
-Learning
-Finances
-Excellence