Why do you want to do a Startup?

Bear with me it is not such an obvious answer. Building a business is a hard job, creating products and services, selling your vision, convincing others to join your journey, convincing your customers that you add value, raising money…the list goes on. Given all the challenges and pitfalls, why do we consistently keep wanting to do this? The motivations are all as different as we are all different. Let me say it, most of us start because we get desperate after we get laid off or being fired from a job or getting out of school. I would say for 99% of us it starts off as an economic driver. I remember why I started on this journey, I was fired yes I had never been fired from doing anything but here I was fired, that too from my dream job. Something that I really enjoyed doing and I was actually quite good at it too. My mind was racing what am I going to do? How am I going to pay the bills? I had seen poverty, I know what it is be hungry, I know what it is to be crammed into a public train or bus with a million other passengers. I know how it feels to be broke. My saving grace was something in the pit of my stomach that kept telling me that there should be a higher purpose or motive that should drive my actions.

I have written about being Fearless (I read that again, it was probably one of favorite blog posts), fear is a great motivator but it can lead one to the dark side of the force. As Yoda, said “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to suffering…” so I could not use fear as a motivator. I wanted to do something that would make me excited about the next day, the next hour, the next minute that I am alive. That is what led to Startup Iceland and every other step that I have been taking in the last 5 years. I can say without a doubt in my mind I have found my voice and my purpose. When you are that clear then all things become easy. That is why I encourage every entrepreneur or startup founder that I meet to dig deep and find your calling, find that purpose and if you are lucky to be able to align that calling to your job or your startup or your business then the motivation is no longer a problem. In addition, doing the right thing becomes much easier too. I see so many people struggling with this. Doing the right thing is not always easy, but once your purpose is set then there is no way you can do the wrong thing. There are no compromises. So, what is your motivation to do what you are doing?