

Entrepreneur’s Hierarchy of Needs - hristiank
http://appicurious.com/2011/11/11/entrepreneur-hierarchy-of-needs/

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arctangent
I think it's perfectly reasonable to suspect that some proportion of people do
not conform to Maslow's model.

Wikipedia says that a large study "found little evidence for the ranking of
needs Maslow described, or even for the existence of a definite hierarchy at
all":

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs> (scroll to
"Criticism" section)

Part of being a (successful) human is making sacrifices to get the things you
want the most, and this contradicts an established hierarchy of needs like
that supposed by Maslow.

I suppose a great example would be people who participate in dangerous sports
- they sacrifice their safety in the short term to achieve the success, money
and respect they aspire to.

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billpatrianakos
This made me feel special as an entrepreneur and it's an interesting,
entertaining read, but ai must call bunk on this one.

Entrepreneurs are a special breed but we don't defy all the rules. We still
need to go in order. We do sacrifice our health and living conditions at times
but by choice. If you have the option to make a conscious decision to live on
Ramen for a year then you've already gotten up the pyramid some ways. Those
who are barely meeting this level of needs without choosing to are not
entrepreneurs. They have a long way to go.

We don't sacrifice Safety without already achieving it too. First we secure
employment and everything that comes with safety, then we become dissatisfied
with the situation and, again, make a conscious decision to throw ourselves
into the great unknown. We cannot make this choice without having achieved
this level first.

These last 3 are tricky but the rules still apply to us. No one is an island
and so if our personal relationships suffer during the course of starting our
businesses that doesn't mean that this level comes at a different time for us,
has a different importance or isn't necessary. First off, we have to have
relationships first before they suffer. Secondly, we gain and absolutely need
relationships with customers, prospects, vendors, partners, employees etc.
this is a case where the hierarchy isn't flipped on its head but just takes on
different terms.

Then self-esteem and self-actualization go in order as we need the rest in
order to get there.

Sorry to be so long-winded but I just disagree with the premise that the
hierarchy applies differently to entrepreneurs. It just doesn't. Nothing
against the author, I could definitely understand his reasoning and think this
is something young (young as in just beginning, not age) entrepreneurs could
read and be inspired by and feel special.

I guess I'm just in one of those cynical moods today or something.

~~~
mechanical_fish
No, you're not just being cynical, and it is in fact crazy to pretend that
entrepreneurs don't generally need the same things that everyone else needs.

The OP is apparently anxious to pretend that the average Ramen-eating couch-
surfing startup hacker is in danger of _actually starving to death, freezing
to death, or pining away for lack of human contact_. Whereas most of them are
just slumming, living extremely cheaply _on purpose_ as part of their _chosen_
lifestyle. There's a difference between an athlete on a strict diet and a
desperate, starving person who is wasting away.

And while history does contain apparent examples of people who desperately
invented new businesses as their only alternative to starvation, when you ask
these people what motivated them to start their businesses they tend to say
"starvation!"

Of course, I'm not going to argue that entrepreneurial behavior is actually
well-explained by Maslow's hierarchy because, as noted elsewhere in this
thread, it's not clear that Maslow's hierarchy is good at explaining
_anyone's_ behavior.

~~~
billpatrianakos
Yes, I meant to mention that last bit about it not being good at explaining
_anyone's_ behavior. The hierarchy is like a generalization that can apply
very generally to anyone or anything. It reminds me of explanations of
instinctual behavior in animals.

In any case it's great fodder for newbies to entrepreneurship to feel warm and
fuzzy by reading. We always need to organize and explain everything so it only
makes sense that someone would write this even if it ends up being wrong.

