Do you have to love what you do?

Jason Fried argues that the advice to love what you do is overstated. He says love can grow, but it is not required to start a business, build a career, or do great work. What often drives new companies is frustration with existing options and a desire to make something better.

He uses Uber as an example of a company that began from annoyance at not being able to get a cab, and he describes his own work in the same way. He did not love music collecting or software development at the start; he saw a need, made a tool for it, and later found the same pattern with Basecamp. He says he still does not love every part of running a company, but he values the work, the challenge, and the people.

Reading notes

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• Love is not presented as a requirement for starting a business, building a career, or doing great work.
• The article says successful people often romanticize their motivations after the fact.
• Frustration with existing options is described as a stronger predictor of success than love for the subject matter.
• Uber is given as an example of a company that began with irritation at a missing service.
• Fried says his own projects began from seeing a need and filling it, not from loving the field first.
• He says he does not always love the day-to-day work of running Basecamp, but still prefers it to doing anything else.
• Intrinsic motivation and feeling good about spending your days on the work are presented as important, while love can develop later.