Startups should be your means to kindle your passion!
I was born into a middle-class family in India. My parents, luckily for me, were well educated and pretty open to above average levels of risk taking. Not sure how many parents in the early 90’s in India would have let their son take a yearlong break from his education post high school, in spite of getting admission for engineering.
In spite of being lucky enough to have forward thinking parents, when I look back in life I was not able to pursue my real passions in life. As many of my friends know if given an option I would have definitely tried my hands at Film Direction during my days post college. Of course, I wouldn’t blame anyone but me for that. I can always blame the society for not being evolved enough to help my cause during my younger days, but the fact remains that I was not persistent and committed enough. I admire all my friends in India who showed the grit to pursue their real passions in the not so conducive environment.
So, what has changed now? The new mantra in India for the past few years has been “Startup”. Startup in the media context today refers to a newly established business venture. But what I would like to call it, or rather what I would like it to be known as, is “the action or process of setting your passion in motion”. As much as I agree to the fact that the startup environment is very mature in the west, I believe the major reason why startups there are way more successful compared to those in other parts of the world is that those are ventures started by individuals who are passionate about what they do.
Amy Arnsten, professor of neuroscience and psychology at Yale University, says when people lose their sense of control, such as when tasks are dictated to them, the brain’s emotional response center can actually cause a decrease in cognitive functioning, which leads to a dip in productivity. By enabling people to follow their passion and enabling them to accomplish tasks in their own way, they become more fully engaged leading to better productivity. When there is always a reference to the startup ecosystem in the west being more mature and hence more successful, I believe it is merely due to the enablement of letting one pursue one’s passion.
Startups need to be a means to kindle your passion, and not an escape from employment. In fact, if you aren’t pursuing your real passion via your startup you might be better off finding a job which helps you do so. So, one word to all wannabe entrepreneurs out there, before you make that big leap please ensure that your startup is positioned to set your passion in motion!