Good point. Still the critical point of the article is that obsessing on getting rich is more likely to lead to failure. Staying loose and having fun is more conducive to creatively solving customer needs. Solve customer needs and you'll probably make a lot of money. Focus on getting rich and you probably won't make any money.
I still don't see what "having fun" has to do with "solving customer needs": often customer needs are boring, esoteric, poorly-specified, and technically uninteresting -- exactly the opposite of the sort of thing you'd do to "have fun".
Creativity is just one way, and not necessarily the most
effective to achieve perspective shift. In fact I am increasingly
of the opinion that creativity is not a cause of innovation,
but a property of innovation processes, its something that
you can use as evidence of innovation, but not to create it.
This might be true, but coming up with solutions to customer needs is a very small part of making software. Most of the day is filled with programming, i.e. translating your vision into actual software.
Creativity is often the result of great adversity. But in a roundabout way, you're right (but probably not in the way you think). See, by having fun, you're wasting time you should be spending solving the problem. Then just before the deadline, you miraculously solve the problem. Your fun beget your laziness,which beget your desperation,which beget your creativity.
Nope, that doesn't stop lots of people. Ever heard of Duke Nukem Forever? Or any of the people here on HN who talk about their social network for dogs-type startups.
Actually, I'd really argue that if you're obsessed with EFFECTIVE action (which is necessary to make money), you are much more likely to realize that what you're doing may be fun but will never be a product people will pay for.
This is actually a problem with most startups. They don't concentrate on something that's a viable business and fail within a year or two. I don't necessarily want to become rich. I just want to have a business where I have enough money for me (and anyone else involved in the company) to live comfortably and most importantly, not have to go back to a day job.
Sean is absolutely right on. Too many people think a "fun" culture means Xboxes, free drinks and fooze-ball or a really "fun" cool market space. That's a mistake. I don't think that's the fun Sean is talking about. I think that for creative people - esp. developers and product people - it is intrinsically fun to simply build something awesome, even in a less than "fun" space. The main reward is real people loving your awesome creation because you've solved their problem. I've found that even talking about the money can be de-motivating because it makes the problem solving feel less pure, more instrumental, less meaningful. Nothing is more fun or sustaining in the tough times than a simple email from a user saying "I love your product, thanks!". When the team lives for that, you've got a great team.
thanks! As an aside, i notice that these types of observations quickly devolve into a reductio ad absurdum of "but money really counts" or "but you like money". The answer is: of course. People are complicated and have multiple motivations - team and individual motivation is not "either/or"... it's complicated!
"When breakthrough thinking is needed, a fun, collaborative and supportive environment will generally yield better/faster results than the pressure of sticks and carrots. This is especially important in the early days of a startup while the team is still figuring out a viable formula for the business."
But it's assuming there is already a startup company that you've founded.
I'm currently going through the agonizing process of filing for an S-Corp and setting up all the other legal structure to found a startup. Are there really people who would get a couple friends together and file all that paper work and pay all those fees then sit down and think "Hmm.. okay. Now what should we sell?"
Even if you just have an idea for a fun product, if you aren't monetarily focused, I have no idea how you would get yourself through the whole process without considering a "viable business formula."
I am in CA, and trying to incorporate in NV. So I need to get a registered agent in NV. Also, my cofounders are in different states and we're not paying straight dividends for other reasons. Then there are the pains of having a lawyer to craft our T&C.
By coincidence (though I don't think it is coincidence) Jeff Atwood's latest blog post at Coding Horror, "The Vast and Endless Sea" (http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2010/06/the-vast-and-endles...) is about the same thing: how offering lots of money is detrimental for creativity and motivation.
I agree with his recommendation at the end: watch the 10 minute video "RSA Animate - Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us".
My thought on any startup to be successful, they must be stay relevant to its users. Sure it won't hurt to have a bit of fun along the way. I'm sure if it help users in its course of work, there will be users who are willingly to pay a bit of $$$.
