How important is it to be passionate about the problem your business is solving?

I'd say that your combination of passion (passionate about solving the problem, but not the resumes themselves) is more than fine. After all, Bezos was passionate about the Internet as a solution and found the problem (selling books) that fit: https://stratechery.com/2021/the... If you weren't passionate about either you'd just be prone to quitting and doing something else. And also, keep in mind that passion is boosted by traction. :)

If you're a silent investor, don't bother. However, if you're the one leading the ship, you must feel passionate about the problem. So does, your teammates, especially product managers and product designers, if they do not experience the problem the same way your customers do, then I'm sorry to say my friend - the business is doomed to fail.

Honestly, I think it's not possible to stay passionate all the time when building a product or a business. Still, it IS possible to be passionate about small steps at a time. This is how the passion is built, I believe.

I think it's important to be passionate about the problem your business is solving, yet it's also okay when you are not fond of some things/tasks/etc you are performing.

I think it’s always tricky at first. Balancing what you love enough to do every day vs what makes money. Sometimes a passion is within what you live. Maybe you can create something related to video games and excites you, but necessarily a game. As long as the founder is the driving force, they have to be motivated enough. For some money is motivating enough. For others, passion has to be there. Good question! Good luck

If your plan's just to have a small business passion is not necessary. However, if you're trying to build a rapidly growing startup you need passion. As a founder you will go through so many gut punches in your journey that just having the monetary motivation isn't enough.

This is an interesting point that I had thought about in the past before landing on a product endeavor that satisfied both sides — my passion for creating and my passion for the problem (making gift shopping less stressful). I think most people in this community share that first passion — the desire to create new things. I don't think it's bad to be scratching that itch by building something in an area you're not 100% passionate about. Because, regardless, it will be a great learning experience. And then with time, hopefully you can come across something that you're both passionate about building and passionate about solving!

It's a great question, @fer_momento, and one I think about a lot! On one level, people may just be passionate about starting their own business or building their own product, and that can be enough. This passion can drive you to work hard and create something great, even if you're not in love with the problem it's solving. However, I believe real passion is necessary for fulfillment long-term. If you expect to work on something for 5, 10, 15+ years at a time, you'll need to be passionate about that problem you're solving if you're going to see it through. I also think passion is necessary if you're trying to solve a difficult problem. Solving an easy problem can be, well, easy. When things are easy they don't require as much determination or resilience. Passion is needed when you're working to solve hard problems. Problems that beat you down, discourage you, and cast doubt on your ideas, creativity, and conviction. I think finding a hard problem to solve that you're passionate about is what entrepreneurship is all about. Like, I don't know, bringing a new video game into an already saturated market! Plenty of companies have succeeded as new players in seemingly saturated markets (Larabar, Raising Cane's, TikTok, Hint Water)... just need to find your niche! 🕹💪🚀

Not important to me at all. What is important to me is demand. I am going to naturally become "passionate" about any subject matter that is making me money.

If you're passionate about doing something just for the money, you'll be more motivated to do the work necessary to make that money. If you're passionate about the growth of your business and its mission, you will always take care of your customers, add value for them, and try to create a lasting legacy, etc.

From someone who named his company CodePassion. Many years later, my advise is: Be careful, strong passion will impair your vision. You better enjoy the journey, but unless you are a royal or something, you got have a clear eye on the destination.

Very hard question but like everyone is saying it all comes down to how passionate you are about fixing this problem and seeing it all the way through. But you are staying true to your goal which is to make money that's something you're passionate about and you've created something that helps others and helps you get a step closer to your goal of a million.

Its a huge advantage but not necessary I would say. To me, its more about being engaged. Otherwise, its all becoming boring soon or later.

Not necessary. But it helps tremendously. Here's why. - You know the problem better than everyone - If it solves your problem, it's already validated - It keeps you going because of your interest

I think it's not important that you be passionate about that specific problem, because at the end of the day it's not about you, it's about what the market really wants, I'm not saying that you shouldn't be passionate about it but I am just saying it's not very important. I think you should be passionate about problem-solving in general, that's how you deliver an exceptional customer experience.

Passion gives you motivation which eventually drives results!

Absolutely! Passionate can help you devote all of your energy and time into the business you are working. Also more and more people will be impacted by your sprit.

In my opinion, you need to be passionate about what you are building, not the industry or problem you solve. Example: you can be passionate about scaling your website to X visits / month or X $ / month, but not be passionate about the topic you cover. You'll enjoy testing new strategies, tolls, see what works, and growth the project or business. You might need understanding of what problem you solve or the value you can bring, but not necessarily passion. May not be true for everyone though, probably something that can be very different for each individual.

Passion often comes out when there is a new strain of informationcoming to feed the concept. It's extremely easy to be passionate about something for the first few weeks you start learning new stuff. Real passion comes up when you are able to feed your product for a much longer period of time. When you get to the point of having a vision of your product in the future and you are able to imagine it in your mind with all the potential it could be. Then you could call yourself a real passionate. It has to come to a stage where it feels there is almost no limit to the level of iteration your product could undergo and go beyond your own expectations. The only limiting factor is your time and resources to integrate such features. On the other side, if you ain't passionate but you are a monster at solving issues and have a great execution at providing a solution at the right time, then actually it might be as good if not better. Passion comes at a cost that not many talks about, it takes too much time and risk since it usually comes with a long-term approach. The results would appear probably a decade later. Depending on how many resources you have, it's an extremely risky bet. I think they are two different worlds between passionate people and dispassionate ones. If you would put two of these people to work together, it won't necessarily work. The compromises might be a deal breaker for the passionate person and he would lose interest in the project. On the other side, being too long-term the process for the dispassionate would drive him nuts, and would probably seek something he could fix in much shorter terms. The best compromise to make it work would be to not lose the vision but work on pieces of work that can be implemented right now. That would make the two agree on that. If you can find someone that is passionate about what he does, that's a huge PLUS. They are usually ahead on what's working on not because they went in-depth on some concept that may be boring to death to some. They did their own research and experimentation within a timeframe that is way more important than someone that may not have this passion for it. That's the same principle for those who are passionate about history and those who are not. The amount of data and the way they intertwine each element of history is just one universe ahead of those who don't have that passion. That's my take! ;D

Honestly speaking, I think we work better if we're passionate about the problem our business is solving. It doesn't have to be every aspect of the business- as you said for you it's rewarding to help people in their job search- you may not love building resumes, but it's that part that probably drives you.