Why Purpose Matters More Than Your Startup Mission Statement

Why This Problem? 

Why this?

Of all the businesses you could build and all the problems you could solve, why have you chosen this one?

It's a question worth asking because startups are hard.

There will probably be easier ways to earn money.

There will certainly be more predictable ones.

So when things become difficult, what keeps a founder engaged?

Across my Founder Friday conversations, one answer keeps appearing:

The problem matters to them.

Sometimes the problem starts with you

Julia Marshall Wessendorf didn't begin with a startup idea.

She began with her own experience.

She wanted a more holistic way of understanding different factors affecting wellbeing and couldn't find the tool she needed.

Eventually that journey became Wave Six.

Her advice today includes a simple idea:

Fall in love with your problem.  

That's different from falling in love with your product.

Products change.

Features change.

Technology changes.

Business models change.

The problem is the anchor.

Passion has a practical purpose

Vikki Nolan talks about passion when asked what advice she would give a first-time founder.

Entrepreneurship involves risk and difficult days, she says, but working on something you're genuinely passionate about helps keep it alive.

"I know what I'm doing has a purpose," she explains.  

That sentence matters.

Purpose isn't branding.

It isn't the beautifully constructed paragraph underneath "Our Mission" on your website.

Purpose is something you draw upon on Tuesday afternoon when nothing has worked.

Purpose doesn't mean refusing to change

There is a trap here.

If you care deeply about something, you can become convinced that your solution must be right.

But purpose and adaptability aren't opposites.

You can be stubborn about why while remaining flexible about how.

Andy Bird recommends remaining open-minded and adapting as evidence arrives. His own product evolved significantly from the original concept.  

The mission can remain.

The implementation can move.

That's one reason purpose can become strategically useful.

When everything else changes, it helps answer:

What are we actually trying to achieve?

Your problem doesn't have to be dramatic

Not every startup requires a life-changing origin story.

Sometimes you notice an inefficient process.

Rob Cossins spent years working in banking and repeatedly found himself doing work that felt automatable.

That observation eventually contributed to Scribe.

The common thread isn't trauma.

It's attention.

Founders notice things.

Something is inefficient.

Unfair.

Expensive.

Slow.

Frustrating.

Environmentally damaging.

Inaccessible.

Boring.

Broken.

Or simply possible now when it wasn't possible before.

Then comes the entrepreneurial question:

Does it have to be this way?

Purpose gives direction

Julia's compass-before-clock metaphor belongs here too.

Startups are constantly encouraged to move faster.

Launch faster.

Grow faster.

Raise faster.

Hire faster.

But speed in the wrong direction isn't progress.

Purpose provides the compass.

It helps decide what opportunities to decline.

What customers matter.

What compromises feel acceptable.

What company you want to build.

And ultimately, what success means.

For a first-time founder, therefore, perhaps the question before "How big is the market?" should be more personal.

Why do I care enough about this problem to spend years of my life trying to solve it?

You don't need a profound answer.

But you probably need an answer.

Because eventually the excitement of starting wears off.

Then the problem needs to remain interesting enough to keep you there.

Discover the stories behind the ideas

Founder Friday explores not only what founders are building, but why they decided the problem was worth pursuing in the first place.

Listen to the Founder Friday series

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