Status and worth games
Many founders do not want a business; they want a monument to their own worthiness. This attachment is the heaviest weight a company can carry.
The dead weight for a founder
Why are you building this business?
Is it to solve a problem? Or is it to prove something?
To prove to your father that you are successful.
To prove to your peers that you are smart.
To prove to yourself that you are worthy.
If you are building to prove your worth, the business is not an asset. It is a vehicle for your ego.
The Distortion of Decisions
When a business is a worth-game, every decision is corrupted.
You don't launch the MVP because it might look "unprofessional" (status hit).
You don't fire the toxic client because losing revenue feels like failure (worth hit).
You over-engineer the product to show off your intelligence (status signaling).
You are prioritizing your ego's needs over the market's needs. The market punishes this ruthlessly.
The Weight of Attachment
A business built on worth is heavy. It cannot pivot. It cannot fail. It cannot experiment. Because if the business fails, you fail. If the launch flops, you are a flop.
The stakes are too high. You become rigid, risk-averse, and stressed. You suffocate the business with your neediness.
The Sovereign Builder
The Sovereign separates his worth from his work.
He builds the business like a carpenter builds a table. If the table wobbles, he fixes the leg. He doesn't have an identity crisis.
When you detach your worth from your revenue, you become free to play the game properly. You can take risks. You can fail cheaply. You can listen to feedback without being wounded.
Build a business, not a monument.
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The signal and the noise: Pure intention vs egoic desires
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