Now I am sure, many of you won’t agree with me on the title of this post. I have seen enough and more talks, presentations and discussions around how Passion is the fuel for a successful startup. But I disagree. Passion is certainly a key ingredient, but it is not one of the most important one.
It is said – do something you love, then you do not have to work anymore. Reality is – when you make business out of something you love, you have to do certain other things, that you may not love so much (or at all at times), as a part of baggage of running the business. Now, this would be totally different when you are not doing this for business – then who cares if you making money or not, because ultimately you are having fun, doing what you LOVE.
My point is – Passion wears off in a few months after you start your venture which was based on your passion. Because you are no longer doing it for fun, but to build something, to make something profitable for you or and others associated with it. Pressure builds up and very soon you find yourself questioning yourself on whether this was what you really loved and if you did then why did you make it into a business?!
The funny thing in running a business, especially if you are the one who is running the show , is that you are responsible for a lot more than just the core business. Business requires you to worry about lot of things like investment, attrition rate of your employees, payment collections, months bills, monthly salaries etc. etc. And these are definitely not things that you were passionate about. The actual passion and the core of it finds itself taking a backseat.
This brings us to one of the most underrated term that we hear from the experts, forums and conferences related to startups – I believe the term is Persistence. Yes, Persistence – because just loving what you doing is not enough to make it into a successful business. You need Persistence to make it big! Why? Well because it isn’t easy to build a business – a lot of sh*t happens in the process. And to sustain it takes a lot out of you. You might be surprised that the thing you loved doing just for fun isn’t fun anymore because the business took the fun out of it. Unless, what you really love doing is running a BUSINESS, because in that case you actually love the challenges it is throwing at you. Then, it doesn’t matter what kind of business you are in till it is growing and making the money.
So what I think is Passion is overrated and Persistence is a bigger requirement than Passion in building a successful startup. But just because passion sounds sexier than persistence we give it more importance. But any entrepreneur six months into his/her business, not making the revenue projected/expected , would tell you passion isn’t the fuel that is helping them drive the business but it is persistence to make it happen.
In the end Passion can definitely help you jump into your startup but Persistence is needed to run it. Hence remember this fact Persistence > Passion while building your startup!
About the author:
Deep Malhotra is the Founder and Managing Partner of Gemini New Media Ventures LLP and Gemideals.com. Deep has over 13 years of entrepreneurial and startup experience in working & building companies like Google, Myspace.com, rediff.com and Onmag.com. Can be reached out at: deep@imgemini.com
asha chaudhry
bang on Deep! i think a lot of youngsters need to read this!!
Robin Dhanwani
Deep, I completely agree that passion is over-rated and definitely needs lot of persistence to build.
But the way you look at your business, its goals and why you are doing are important questions to know before doing it. During the journey, we will come across situations where the decisions will depend on our priorities and many times passion for something gives that reserve fuel to be persistent at tough times.
I took decisions in my journey for very practical goals although I wasn’t super excited about it and it made me realize very soon that I am a kind of person who would want to do (or make my company do since I will have hundred other responsibilities) things I am passionate about irrespective of concerns about scale etc. and thats a choice that each one of us needs to make. Will soon share my story and how situations & passion lead us to make pivotal changes to what we do.
Alok Rodinhood Kejriwal
Totally disagree
Passion is the ONLY ONLY ONLY factor that makes me wake up 16 years later and still want to do gaming and all things gaming
Passion is the only thing that makes winners compete with themselves
The BY PRODUCTS of Passion are whatever you may wish to call them
Shwaytaj Raste
I understand your POV. But maybe you might be comparing apples and oranges here. Persistence is an ‘outcome’ of a deeper emotion set. I think persistence is an outcome of ‘need’, ‘fear’, ‘desperation’ or ‘passion’. I agree persistence is the key to success, but the underlying emotion might still be passion. food for thought.
Rahul Varshneya
You cannot be persistent if you do not have PASSION. You cannot change the world if you’re not passionate about the cause.
Gandhi wasn’t just persistent, but was equally passionate. In fact, it was his passion that drove persistence. Sure he failed many times. Sure he did receive setback. Sure, there were many challenges. But it was his passion to see a free India that made him persistent in his goal.
Startups are no different.
You’re missing the point of ’cause’. The reason why you built the product. If the cause is greater than the product/startup itself, you will remain passionate and persistent.
Chetan Kaushal
But how can there be Persistence without Passion… without passion your persistence will be full of mediocrity…
Deep Malhotra
Alok sir – nothing beats your contagious passion & energy…but passion does take a backseat when one doesn’t see the results of the efforts put in.. thats wen persistence kicks in!
Passion is the drug which will make one jump off the cliff into the deep sea of entrepreneurship, but when the swimmer gets tired after a while with no sight of shore n realise that unless he/she doesn’t keep moving their hands and legs they are going to drown…thats wen persistence helps to keep going..
my point is passion is overrates as compared to persistence because when your stomach is empty passion alone doesn’t help.. it is your persistence to make it happen that keeps you going..
Deep Malhotra
thank you Asha.. hope the readers get the perspective and the link btwn passion n persistence in building a startup 🙂
Deep Malhotra
thanks robin! passion & persistence are both required but somewhere passion is given more importance but it is being persistent to reach ur goal is what takes you there.. of course Situation over rides many things as in my case too – I have always been passionate about media biz and spent many years in the industry too but wen the situation demanded me to jump ship and get into real estate i took it and did whatever to make sure the ship reaches the shore..
would love to hear ur story.. you can read mine here: https://www.therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/rethi-cement-dotcom-1
Deep Malhotra
thanks for ur comment shwaytaj – i agree passion is the one that makes you take the first step towards the direction..but alone passion won’t help you get there all the time..becoz persistence ie. to be on it even when things are not going right..takes you the distance.I wouldn’t call persistence an outcome of passion as it is much bigger than passion wen things are not going right..
Deep Malhotra
well interesting thought.. though do not agree with the same 🙂
my thought: passion alone won’t always take you to success, but being persistent to get there would most definitely will..Pure Persistence can never be mediocre..case in point I am not passionate about the biz I am in (intact i hated it n never wanted to get in it) but I am persistent to make it big and it is that which has helped me grow it to where ever it is now..
I strongly believe champions keep playing until they get it right not because they are only passionate abt the game, but becoz they are persistent to get it right!
Deep Malhotra
I agree you need to be passionate for the cause/goal that you wish to achieve..but passion is like the spark that helps u start off it is the fuel of persistence that helps you keep going the fire…
at the time of independence struggle all had the passion for Freedom which actually sparked off the freedom struggle ultimately, but it was Gandhi’s persistence that made it happen..
Rishi
Deep — I get your point, but I’m not sure how *you* define passion. Going by dictionary definition, I’m with others here who don’t agree.
I think what’s missing here is the reason/cause why someone is doing it. That, I think, is the most critical one and could be anything as long as it’s really really strong; and one of the causes/reasons could be passion. Without that there won’t be any persistence.
Deep Malhotra
in the reference of building a startup (what I understand) – passion usually is considered the thing you really like to do..becoz the general understanding is that – the thing you really like to do or achieve will make you drive to success..
my take is the thing you really like to do usually won’t necessary always will make you successful – unless you are not persistent to make it successful while on the other hand you might get into something which you don’t actually like but if you are on it till you do not get it right your chances of making a success out of it is much bigger..
Manish Jethwani
Deep Malhotra
Shikha Pandey
Interesting to see such a debate.. And somewhere when I read it I figured out that not many people will agree to it because it always feel good to say ‘Ya i made it big because I was passionate about it rather than i made it big because I was persistent ‘ … You start and end with passion (most of the times) but the success of your business is not defined by it…simple example : i feel very passionate about real estate but it is the multiple calls to clients & endless days of BD that gets me the business. We changed our business model 4 times before we hit it right.. I could have just sat back and said, forget it, lemme just continue doing this for passion and not business. What kept me going was the urge and drive to make it successful. I didn’t want to fail…during the day, through the endless calls, failures, employee issues etc..passion is the last thing i feel but it is the urge and persistence to succeed that keeps me going
Deep Malhotra
shikha i totally agree with u about not many ppl would say they made it big becoz they were persistent rather than being passionate!
Chetan Kaushal
Most of the time, the difference between businesses is very minor. Sometimes its just one USP which makes a business unique from the rest in its category and you start that business because of that one USP.
From my personal observation, I observed that when you don’t see success like you expected to for a decent amount of time, then you start aping successful businesses in that category. I have seen people completely ignore their USP and sometimes even do things which is completely opposite of their concept only because some successful business found success with it.
Aping without thinking in the name of persistence results from the lack of passion for your idea. This is what I was trying to say. Persistence without Passion can potentially lead to a disaster.
Abhishek N Jain
Totally agreed. One would say love to travel or cook or simply code. But when one is doing the to make a business, simply loving what you do don’t come as help. Persistence as you mentioned is the key then and the savior. I wish everyone understands this as early as they can.
Definitely if you are doing something which is totally out of passion and you don’t expect a business out of it, then BANG you can do it till your last breath. But when its business, its persistence.
Jitendra Gursingh
In my opinion, you need both. It is just that one outweighs the other in certain scenarios! The way you look at how business is done & try to disrupt or do it differently will stem from Passion. However, until what you are doing is actually accepted or has disrupted the market, Persistence will keep you going.
Deep Malhotra
thanks abhishek. glad you agree with the thought..more and more youngsters I have come across think that entrepreneurship require you to be passionate and that will suffice to be successful. But people miss the key factor of being persistent to get there. As running a business is not as easy as pursuing a hobby.
Darshan Bhambiru
You can’t Change, what’s Going on, Around you,
until you start Changing, what’s Around you, to Go on…
Everything in this Man made World was once a Thought,
Dream or Vision that through Hard work, Determination and Persistence became a Reality! Billy Cox~
Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very Persistent one,
to know the Distinction between Past, Present, and Future. – Albert Einstein~
What I have really Learnt over Time, is that Optimism is very, very Important to Lead yourself and to Leadership – Bob Iger~
Persistence is to the Character of Man as Carbon is to Steel !!! Napoleon Hill~
The True Secret of giving Advice is, after you have Honestly given it,
to be Perfectly Indifferent, whether it is Taken or Not,
and never Persist in trying to Set People Right. !!! Henry Ward Beecher~
#JustBeingMyself