Entrepreneurial Drive.... not the BMW kind

What really drives an entrepreneur?

Is is the potential for money? The high pressure life style? The late nights?

Every entrepreneur would have his or her own reasons. But I believe that a true entrepreneur does it for the same sake an academic researcher takes up lower pay to solve a research problem - the sense of achievement, the opportunity to have contributed something lasting to humanity. Being a former academic/industrial researcher myself, I would think I am well qualified to make such a statement. The ultimate reward for a researcher is peer recognition, and the sense of satisfaction of having done something no one else has been able to.

An entrepreneur is driven by the same motivation, to receive recognition for his idea, when people invest millions into your idea, you know for sure its not lip service, but faith in your ideas and your potential. To take an idea from inception all the way to a product is always a unique experience, giving the sense of satisfaction that you have done what no one has ever done before.

But in my case, the one thing that gives me a richer experience than my previous life as an industrial researcher is the potential to establish something that can do a lot of good for people beyond just the technology - develop more jobs. In this troubled economic climate, every little bit counts. Whether its the extra hour of pay that the custodian receives to the twenty well paid software engineers hired, everyone wins - everyone associated with the enterprise - customers, vendors, employees, investors, local merchants and finally the government (everyone pays taxes).

Two years ago, at my former research group, I drove the writing of a research poposal to the NSF (National Science Foundation), based on my Master's Thesis. We were awarded $300,000. My biggest motivation? - the opportunity that the research funding would bring to my advisor to hire more graduate students such as myself. The funding brought in another 5-6 graduate students, with complete financial aid provided to them. The sense of satisfaction that gave me is probably one of the greatest drivers I have to becoming an entrepreneur. This time, my targets are a little higher.... :)