Purpose vs Profit

Pick one.

There are two types of founders. Mercenary and missionary.

Former are the ones who see a gap in the market and attack it. Shoe laces to ball bearings to plastic scoops - as long as there is a better way to serve the market, a market that already exists, they are in.

Usually, these are the guys who build profitable companies. Why?

Because they start with how the world is. Not how it should be. They meet the consumer where she stands today. And serve her needs.

Makes all the sense in the world. All the money too.

No wonder then, this is the vast majority of entrepreneurs. If you’ve seen a Gujarati or Marwadi business, you know what I am talking about. I have deep respect for them. I find them to be the most realistic and honest people. They don’t lie (atleast never to themselves) about the nature of the world. They accept it. And build for it.

Unfortunately, taken too far, the mercenary approach has a dark sid.

You like smoking? I make a cigarette.

You believe being fairer will get you a good job/ husband/ life. Ok. Seems true. I accept reality. Let me make you a fairness cream.

You want an extremely tasty snack. You say you care about health, but honestly, you don’t. I don’t judge. I’ll make you a great tasting snack, that sounds healthy (so you can tell yourself you did well). Cheers.

It’s this dark side that prompts a small minority of entrepreneurs to start up.

These are the missionary folks. I count myself as one. So everything I say from here on, remember, this is my bias.

Missionary founders are the opposite of mercenary in almost every way.

We see how (a certain part of) the world is, and we don’t like it. We want to change it.

We don’t go where the consumer is. We try and get her to where we believe she should be (how presumptuous).

And we usually don’t make money. Neither do our companies. Why?

Because we try and play God. We refuse to accept reality. We want to change it. Last I checked, reality remains unbeaten.

Change begets friction. This, according to me, is why so many purpose led businesses remain small.

The neighborhood baker who’d never use dark-compound in her cakes. That curated bookstore which chooses to showcase great writing, not famous writers. That niche theatre that plays great indie films.

Any attempt to scale purpose led businesses is met with fierce resistance.

Consumers resist. Incumbents resist. The world resists. Reality, resists.

And overcoming this resistance, at every step, on every dimension, for decades (which is how long it takes to build anything meaningful), requires just too much resource. Too much resilience.

And to do all this, in the face of very very low odds of success. Sigh. It really is a fools errand.

Which begs the question, why am I doing this again?

I think about this a lot. Why do something that has such low odds of success (especially food. I’ll do a separate post about why food businesses have the highest mortality rate in the world). Why set myself, and so many other’s who’ve chosen to believe in me, up for failure?

Part of the answer is because this must be done. Humanity has chosen Capitalism as its preffered way of organising society. And companies are the primary actors in a capitalistic system. What a shit future we are heading towards then, if companies can’t do well by doing good!

But to be honest, I don’t wake up everyday thinking that I must do this to prove that Capitalism can be a force for good.

I do wake up though, on many days, thinking about how to set food right.

I’m that obese kid who struggled to lose weight all his life. Who kept falling prey to a food-marketeer who knew all my buttons, all too well. A food marketeer who chose to use this knowledge against me.

I am doing this because, in hindsight, my entire life seems to have led up to this.

I’m doing this not because I chose it. But because it chose me.

PS: There is a third kind of entrepreneur I see a lot nowadays. One who is actually a mercenary but pretends to be a missionary. Bad idea. Especially because, over time, many start believing their own lie. Drinking their own kool-aid. Remember, the necessary pre-requisite to being a good mercenary is to never lie to yourself.

PPS: Do you know of purpose led businesses that have achieved scale. Do share for inspiration please.