Well, Paul's coming at it from an artist's perspective. Don't get in business to do art - beautiful algorithms, a movie that has a message for modern America, a meditation on the color blue. Forget about doing that to make money. L'art pour l'art. That's what I get out of it, anyway.
Walt Disney, whom I never thought much about until I read a biography a few years back and I now consider a unique American genius, certainly wouldn't disagree with that. But his alternative wasn't "get money," it was to give people a certain kind of experience. But, in a sense, that's a great business plan too. So it works out.
Walt is probably the most successful businessman ever to follow the mantra "Make Something People Want".
He wasn't a big fan of budgets, business models, and the like. He built things he wanted, and believed other people wanted too. He was a workaholic and a visionary, and never settled for just good enough. It shows in his work and it shows in the work that happened at Disney after his death.
Walt Disney, whom I never thought much about until I read a biography a few years back and I now consider a unique American genius, certainly wouldn't disagree with that. But his alternative wasn't "get money," it was to give people a certain kind of experience. But, in a sense, that's a great business plan too. So it works out.