Build What Fascinates You

Brian Koppelman is a screenwriter and film producer, who wrote the essay “Write What Fascinates You” over ten years ago. It recommends aspiring writers to select topics they deeply care about. I think the idea applies as much to entrepreneurship, so I rewrote it for founders. Thanks, Shaan Puri and Sam Parr, for mentioning the essay in the MFM podcast.

This seems simple, right? Of course we should build what fascinates us, what we obsess over. But so many people approach entrepreneurship, and especially tech start-ups, as if can be gamed, figured out, strategized. They bounce from trend to trend, trying to figure out what VCs might want to hear in the next round.

And if you’re someone who can do that, congratulations. Rock on. Although I wish you wouldn't waste that kind of strategic brainpower on figuring out how to spend years of your life, just to reach an end goal. There are better ways to make money than investing your life time in a risky start-up. Become a consultant or join a PE. I don’t know. Because I don’t think that way. But obviously, you do.

As for the rest of us. We need to calculate less. And to look inside to find our subject matter. Or outside at the world we see, but through a prism of enthusiasm and curiosity. Meaning: we must find ideas that are personally animating. Inspiring and engaging to us. Ideas that pull us in because we care.

Once we do, we have a shot at building something inspiring and lasting.

Because when the idea itself is important to you. When it fascinates you. That passion is tangible. Employees see it. Customers sense it. Investors feel it. And without even knowing why, they give you the benefit of the doubt. You still have to put in the work, of course, and that still takes an enormous amount of effort and concentration. But: The huge collateral benefit of building something that fascinates you is this: forcing yourself to sit down for years is much, much easier than when you are merely building something because you think it is sellable and in a genre that’s currently in demand.

If you’re not fascinated, you’re much more likely to run out of motivation than any other resource. If you are, however, chances are you stick to your idea through the rough times. You’ll enjoy the journey as much as the destination. Only sign up for the Marathon if you enjoy the race as much as the finish line.

So. Calculate less. Build what you obsess over. And have a better chance of A) really getting something off the ground and B) building a company that excites the world and lasts.