

Ask HN: What does it mean to be passionate about an idea? - soham

(In context of a starting to work on an startup idea)
How do you know if you are "really" passionate about doing something? Is it possible to grow passion for anything? Was every successful entrepreneur passionate about what they did? Is passion overrated? Are we mixing passion with interest and/or  abilities?
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reason
I've adopted the belief that very, very few people in the startup world were
born with a passion, or at least developed one at a very young age. Even those
who claimed to have developed such strong interests from a young age that
later influenced their success, I find hard to believe. It's easy to
romanticize the past and connect the dots in hindsight.

Here's what I think: You can develop passions when you realize that the
problem you're onto is a meaningful one. I think when you truly believe that
the solution you're trying to provide genuinely helps people, you grow a
passion not for the specific domain your startup is working in, but rather for
the idea of solving a big problem. Growing a deep interest in how a particular
domain works is secondary and required in your pursuit to solve a problem.

I don't think anyone at Stripe has a genuine passion for the technicalities of
online money transactions, but I do believe that they know they're addressing
a huge pain-point that many, many people have been forced to deal with. They
know their solution will be meaningful, and so they'll try to dig as deep as
they can into that specific domain so that their product is better tailored
for their given problem. I could be wrong. I think pg's recent essay on Schlep
Blindness touches on this as well. If you develop a passion for solving
problems, you might open your eyes to many, many more opportunities, versus if
you directed your attention on finding that one domain that really sets your
candle aflame.

But, I do struggle with that question on an almost daily basis. While what I
stated should provide encouragement in that passions and deep interests can be
developed, I can't say I'm not jealous of others I see who have seemed to
genuinely take a liking to a specific subject, so much so that, startup or
not, they'll chase their dream and be happy doing it.

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6ren
Someone said that passion is "love and anger together". Passion originally
meant _to suffer_. It seems that passion (motivation) causes action, but it
happens the other way too. You act, making some progress, and _then_ you feel
motivated. Any worthwhile accomplishment involves suffering and sacrifice.
Maybe passion isn't the only way. Maybe even _deciding_ to suffer doesn't
matter, provided you do it.

Every moment we do not spend ourselves in a worthy cause is simply a moment
not spent in a worthy clause. Each moment we are given, we get for free. It is
up to us how we spend it. Throughout our lives, no matter how we spend it, we
are given another in the very next instant.

Some startups weren't based on a specific idea. e.g. Woz and Jobs first had a
go at blue boxes. HP and Sony began trying a few different products. The
motivation was more like: to make something cool, make a business work. If you
like, the "idea" had a wider scope than a specific product. I think it's fair
to say they were passionate - as in crazy motivated - about that. e.g. Woz
loved making cool electronic stuff; Jobs loved making a business out of that.
It's not a specific idea; though I suppose you could say they were passionate
about each specific idea in a general class.

I feel there are two parts to my own passion: (1) that there's an opportunity
(problem, need, cool new idea) that would make a difference; and (2) that _I_
could do it. That second one is very important. If I don't think it's within
my reach, I won't feel excited. Maybe I'll even feel a little depressed and
inadequate. That's why confidence (aka faith, hope, courage) is so important.
pg noted a few times that not knowing how hard it is can be a blessing - that
some very capable founders would have thought their achievement was beyond
their ability if they knew the obstacles involved.

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staunch
Usually I'm excited about something at first and then it dies down over time.
Very rarely it goes the other way.

I think you can get better at predicting what you will and won't like over
time. You learn what you do and don't like about different types of projects.

One obvious trick for startups it to solve a problem you have yourself that
you _truly and deeply_ want fixed.

When Zuck started Facebook he wasn't deeply passionate about "making the world
a more open and connected place" neither was Larry Page about "organizing the
world's information". Their passion grew into a grand vision out of a small
kernel of interest. It's hard to predict in advance how big an idea can grow.

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mparke
> How do you know if you are "really" passionate about doing something? Does
> it keep you up late at night? If it does not keep you up at night, is it all
> you can think about during the day? If I'm writing notes all over the place
> unable to focus on other tasks for very long, and I'm able to work through
> till 4am with no concern about more programming at my day job in the
> morning, then I know I feel passionately about something. Everything else I
> want to think I'm passionate about I can't be sure until it consumes me. In
> that regard, I suspect it's probably possible to grow a passion for
> something. For example, having not taught myself how to work with certain
> aspects of a scripting language, I would have never stumbled upon an idea
> that kept me up working all weekend. I'm sure there's mixed opinions on
> whether or not passion is overrated, but my vote is no, it's not overrated,
> and I make sure to look for it at every corner I turn.

