There is nothing wrong with being greedy. Greedy does not mean that you need to take or steal from others. It means you have an excessive drive for success. "Excessive" is usually defined by society at large, and society at large is unquestionably a cesspit of low consciousness, and self-centered thinking.
What I take from this article is the perception of being nice is important. But the reality between the lines is that nobody is in business to be nice (unless you're running a non profit). We're here to make money. If startup founders don't realize this someone else will, and they will eat their lunch.
> society at large is unquestionably a cesspit of low consciousness, and self-centered thinking
That's a heck of a personal projection :)
And pg disagrees with that last sentiment in the footnotes:
> Many think successful startup founders are driven by money. In fact the secret weapon of the most successful founders is that they aren't. If they were, they'd have taken one of the acquisition offers that every fast-growing startup gets on the way up. What drives the most successful founders is the same thing that drives most people who make things: the company is their project.
When someone characterizes someone else as being "driven by money", I think that in their mind they are seeing the other person as being interested in nothing but having as much money as possible for no apparent reason.
But to me and I think probably to most people who have an interest in creating a successful product or service, we the hackers and the makers don't want money just because we want money. We also don't want the money just so that we can have a private jet, ridiculously big mansion or other forms of luxury.
No doubt I would afford myself a higher living standard and some luxury on top if I had a lot of money but it's not my primary motivation, and again I think this is true of most of those who wish to create something.
I want my product to succeed because I believe in it. I believe that I can bring value to my customers. I believe that my solutions have properties that the products of my competitors don't. I believe that I can improve the lives of others, even if not in drastically new ways.
Now since I believe this it only makes sense that I want "unlimited" funds (i.e. there is no upper bound to the amount of money I would like for my business to have), so that I can grow a business that can reach as many people as possible and produce as many products as possible. I need money so that I can hire people, good people. I need money for everything that my business needs to do because without money I can't do it.
What I take from this article is the perception of being nice is important. But the reality between the lines is that nobody is in business to be nice (unless you're running a non profit). We're here to make money. If startup founders don't realize this someone else will, and they will eat their lunch.