Do what you love
Me: “So how are things going?”
Dan: “It’s really hard right now.”
Entrepreneurs have all been told “do what you love.” Intended to inspire, its easy to dismiss. Here’s my take: do what you love, because when it gets hard you’ll be willing to persevere.
Dan Parham is a great example. As hard as it is, he said to me “turns out I really love selling to our customers. We’ve build these really great tools on Neighborland that can help them solve their problems.” Dan founded Neighborland because he cares deeply about civic engagement, thoughtful urban planning, and activating neighbors to engage in their communities. It’s really hard and he loves what he’s doing.
The reality of starting a company is it is always going to be hard. And most people can really only work hard for an extended period of time on something they really care about. If you’re not passionate, you’ll quit. So make sure you really love what you do.