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In This Article:
- Why passion alone isn't enough for startup success
- The difference between passion and purpose in business
- How conviction and deep motivation drive entrepreneurs
- Applying the ikigai framework to find your true calling
- How to test your passion before launching a startup
Why Steve Jobs Was Wrong About Passion Leading to Success
by Ashwin Gulati, author of the book "Soul Venture".
Steve Jobs famously said, “If you’re not passionate enough from the start, you’ll never stick it out.”
I must respectfully disagree.
Our startup-glorifying culture tends to teach us to place passion at the very core of our life’s blueprint. Frankly, entrepreneurs use phrases like “my passion” too early and too often, as if it’s a mandatory checklist item to include in startup pitch decks. Founders indirectly deploy it to establish a cosmic connection with investors, aiming to convey that their financial investment transcends the realm of mere business endeavors.
But overusing the word passion can be dangerously misleading.
The difference between passion and purpose
In my experience, passion — though undeniably important — isn’t always sufficient to see an entrepreneur through the relentless challenges and obstacles that come with building a successful venture. Passion is the initial spark that ignites our interest in a particular idea or pursuit. It’s the feeling you get when everything is new and exciting. But that spark alone isn’t enough to sustain a long-term partnership.
Purpose, on the other hand, plays a different role. It’s the profound why behind what we do: the deeper commitment we make to our business, or the cause that propels us forward even after the initial euphoria fades. It’s like the hard work and dedication required to sustain a marriage.
Passion is often just a strong interest, one level above a hobby. It’s mostly an outward expression of one’s enthusiasm. Only over time does this interest have the capacity to grow into passion and then into a life’s purpose. Even then, it may require deep introspection to transform into a genuine calling or moral obligation — something that resonates on a deeper, more intrinsic level.
The role of conviction for startup entrepreneurs
As we move up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the motivation for entrepreneurship transitions into a more inward expression, demanding a profound cause to fully commit ourselves to the venture. It’s that inner flame that becomes the driving force propelling our endeavors forward.
To stand before investors and declare, “This is my calling and moral obligation,” demands a marriage-like level of depth and conviction that transcends mere hobbies, interests, or fleeting passions. No matter what word we use — passion, purpose, or calling — the more genuine it is, the less we need to talk about it.
One powerful tool for delving into this concept is ikigai, a wisdom practice rooted in the East that has gradually gained prominence in the Western world. The word itself is a fusion of two Japanese terms: iki (生き), which translates to life, and gai (甲斐), which conveys value and worth. At its core, ikigai is about discovering joy in life through purpose. For startup entrepreneurs, this translates to:
- What are you good at?
- What do you love?
- What does the world need?
- What can you be paid for?
I always tell first-time entrepreneurs that before you embark on an honest evaluation of your new venture, ask yourself some important questions:
- What matters to you?
- What are you willing to fight for?
- What can you uniquely offer that others cannot?
- What do you innately understand?
- What are you bad at?
There is a competitive advantage in running a business for which you are uniquely suited. This suitability extends beyond your professional experience; it encompasses your interests, skills, relationships, knowledge, motivation, and the legacy you want to leave. The path to differentiation doesn’t lie in conforming to the norm but in embracing individuality. It’s rare to engage in activities that we are good at and love, but to maximize the ikigai, those should be the bigger pieces of our time pie.
Testing your passion first
So how does one test out their passion in startups without going in headfirst and starting a new business from scratch? Is there a way we can test out our passion as a true foundation toward the purpose, or even better, find a route that allows your passion to grow and evolve gradually?
One way is to seek a position within one of the top fifteen employees of a well-funded startup, ideally positioning yourself between the seventh and fifteenth spots. This isn’t easy to find and requires a bit of luck, but landing such a position allows you to witness the construction of the whole house while concentrating your efforts on perfecting a single room.
Millions of dollars are typically invested in high-tech startups to reach employee number ten. If the company achieves success, you become a valuable part of a thriving startup. If, however, it doesn’t, you gain invaluable startup experience without compromising your life and resources and lowering your future first-time entrepreneurial risk.
So, when we hear the word “passion” in entrepreneurial pitch decks too early, without much explanation as to how this passion was developed, we must take caution.
Because passion has a definite shelf life; purpose does not.
Copyright 2025. All Rights Reserved.
Book by this Author:
BOOK: Soul Venture
Soul Venture: A True Life and Death Journey Into the Startup Culture
by Ashwin Gulati.
Soul Venture isn't your typical business book—it's a wake-up call. In this gripping exploration, Ashwin Gulati dismantles the myths, ambitions, and raw realities that drive an entrepreneurial culture where 97% of start-ups are destined to fail. So why do entrepreneurs keep lining up? Why do venture capitalists continue to encourage them? What exactly isn’t working? Soul Venture turns the conventional wisdom upside down: It’s not just about business—it’s about you.
Through captivating interviews, revealing case studies, and his own deeply personal journey, Gulati dives into the trenches to reveal the unspoken truths behind nearly every start-up failure and the rare success.
For more info and/or to order this book, click here. Also available as a Kindle edition.
About the Author
Ashwin Gulati has launched international ventures, helped startups take off or land, and copiloted complex transitions for over 100 companies in various industries in the UK, US, Spain, and France. With 30 years in the trenches, he has identified the hidden pitfalls, unspoken truths, and personal twists that ultimately determine a venture’s success or failure. He holds a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Claremont McKenna College and studied at King’s College and the London School of Economics. His new book is Soul Venture: A True Life and Death Journey into the Startup Culture. Learn more at soulventurebook.com.
Article Recap:
Passion may ignite an idea, but purpose sustains the journey. Entrepreneurs who focus solely on passion risk burnout when challenges arise. Instead, finding a deeper sense of purpose and conviction ensures long-term success. This article explores the importance of ikigai, testing entrepreneurial passion, and how aligning with a true purpose builds a lasting business.
#Entrepreneurship #StartupSuccess #PurposeDriven #Ikigai #BusinessMindset #StartupAdvice #FindingPurpose #EntrepreneurLife #PassionVsPurpose #BusinessStrategy
