Are Founders Driven by Fear or Greed?

Most Founders are driven by pure fear — greed is something we can only "hope" to achieve.

Our pop culture loves to opine on the greedy nature of famous Founders, from Elon Musk to Cornelius Vanderbilt. It's easy to say, "Oh that Founder was only driven by greed — look at all they have that they don't need!"

But that often overlooks where it all started, where most of us are. It's kind of hard to be labeled a "greedy Founder" when you're living in your parents' basement applying for 24.99% interest rate credit cards just so you can keep the business alive!

The general population fails to realize that greed is a luxury we can only hope to achieve.

It Usually Starts with Fear... Lots of Fear

The reason being "greedy" is a luxury for most Founders is that greed implies abundance, which is the polar opposite of what most of us are dealing with in our formative years. It's also hard to feel greedy when everything is pretty much falling apart constantly all at once.

We don't wake up at 3 a.m. in a cold sweat staring at the ceiling and thinking, "Oh man, I can't sleep because I'm just so greedy!" No, it's more like, "WTF did I get myself into, and how am I going to make it through this month?" That's pure unadulterated fear, which drives 99% of Founders who haven't advanced to the Greed Stage.

We have every reason to be driven by fear. We risked everything to build something we care about, often with a product that has never existed with a market that may never exist. None of that inspires tons of confidence, much less an expectation of "more."

Greed is Good

Greed is obviously associated with being an awful person, which at its core is probably true. But that's not exactly how we mean it as Founders. Greed implies that we are taking more than we deserve, but it also implies that there's enough to be taken at all.

Let's focus on the latter part of that statement — "enough to be taken at all." In order for us to be greedy, we have to have created enough abundance to take. That's a milestone the vast majority of startup Founders will never achieve, statistically. If we get to that milestone, whereby we're making payroll or (gasp!) creating a profit, we have the luxury of choosing just how greedy we might be.

But short of that, it's nearly impossible to say that Founders are driven by greed until they've achieved enough to be greedy for. In essence, "Greed is Good" if it implies that a Founder would have had to be successful enough to unlock that problem to begin with!

Do We Deserve to be Greedy?

Assuming we do unlock the "Greed Boss Level," we still have to ask ourselves, "What's the difference between being greedy and being fairly paid?" That's where things get really gnarly. How do we quantify what we have earned for our risk and what's "too much"?

It's an important question because no one would argue we're driven by greed if we're paid a fair price. Of course, "fair price" is incredibly amorphous. Is Elon Musk paid too much? If so, then who would replace him that could have the same performance? If no one else exists, then how do you quantify a different price? If the price is then fair for the performance, is he being greedy by charging it?

As Founders, we are driven by fear and greed, with the fear part being kind of a given. It's perfectly fine for us to be driven by greed if we ever unlock that luxury if that greed translates to our fair price being paid, whatever that may be.

Here's to hoping we all have the luxury of that choice!

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