[carguy1983]

Ooh, me, me, pick me. Let me guess! Do it because you want to change the world?

It's a laughable, tired cliche now, especially coming from a guy who made the equivalent of a digital hipster moleskine who isn't changing a god damn thing about this world. People are still broke, sick, and starving. But I can take awesome notes on my MacBook Air!

The better answer is "because it's interesting and fun and challenging and sometimes disappointing and a fantastic learning experience and you might get rich or go broke while experiencing the full, unfiltered range of human emotions and potential".

It also happens to be more truthful and conforms more to the modal outcome.

[jmcannon]

"because it's interesting and fun and challenging and sometimes disappointing and a fantastic learning experience and you might get rich or go broke while experiencing the full, unfiltered range of human emotions and potential"

This is one of the best articulations of why I'm an entrepreneur that I've read. Thanks.

[lusr]

Absolutely agreed. All I know is I will COMPLETELY lose my mind if I'm still working for somebody else (as a contractor or employee) in 5 years; his advice to stick with the paying job while figuring out what you want doesn't address what to do when your repeated conclusion after all the thinking is: "work for myself, build out my ideas".

The only way to deal with this conclusion is to act: to go out there and experience working for yourself, and test your instincts and savy against reality. I don't care whether my projects succeed or fail at this point; I'm just happy I'm focused on exploring my potential and my desires.

I still have the day job, for security and capital, and I have only chosen to pursue ideas that DO impact people's lives (otherwise why would people use it?); none of this stuff is mutually exclusive!

[tedmiston]

  See: thrill.

[reason]

It's almost as if you don't deserve to be an entrepreneur if your goal isn't to change the world.

[guelo]

Changing the world doesn't necessarily mean you're going to somehow rid the world of broke, sick, and starving people. But I agree, this guy is taking himself way too seriously. I guess he gave the world a new way of taking notes, but come on.

[carguy1983]

> Changing the world doesn't necessarily mean you're going to somehow rid the world of broke, sick, and starving people

That's why it sounds so ridiculous.

[taligent]

He didn't give the world a new way of taking notes. It's been done many, many times before.

He just made the best implementation of it.

[napoleoncomplex]

It's lofty wording, but he does go on to explain it's not necessarily changing the world in a huge way that matters so much, just that changing the world in any degree is at the core of your motivation. Judging by their growth, Evernote helps a lot of people, it doesn't cure cancer, but it still helps by doing what it does.

Personally, I'd rather have successful entrepreneurs selling this story than saying it's all about making money, sailing on your yacht surrounded with beautiful women, sipping on champagne. It's incredibly idealistic, but I think entrepreneurship needs to attract incredibly idealistic people more than any other type.

For the record, I've never used Evernote (pen and paper does the task nicely), so the above assumption of Evernote helping people is based on their business results from the video, which would imply a useful product.