I often ask people what would they do if they had a million dollars in their bank account right now. Many people say the basic, “Buy a house, travel the world, invest some money in stocks.”
For me, a million dollars in my bank account is not that huge.
Most startups raise that amount in their seed round.
As a startup founder, I would first convince my cofounder to quit her job. Give ourselves a runway of 6 months to build something that people want. I’d build a lean team, rent a big house with multiple rooms for 6 months, which will both be our living and coworking space. Once we hit the road with multiple paying users, we will raise more money to grow more if needed or stay bootstrapped.
That’s a rosy description, with zero conflicts. Many startups raise more money than that and we don’t even know what happens to them. Maybe be they died in a corner. But this question, made me think more about what problems would I solve if I had some more money.
Some people would say they would be an entrepreneur if they had a few million dollars in their bank account. Next question, what would they solve, what would their life look like?
That’s when you know if they really want to be an entrepreneur or just buy a house, and travel the world.
Here are some interesting questions that I would ask:
What would your life look like if you had unlimited wealth?
What problems will you solve if you had unlimited wealth?
What would you not do if you had unlimited wealth?
What problems do you care about the most?
I think about these questions from time to time and it’s a never ending exercise. But, doing this exercise is important to find things we care about.
I found this question to be the easiest.
What would you not do if you had unlimited wealth?
Assuming that this money lands in my bank account out of sheer luck,
I’d not indulge in status games. There’s no fun in flexing about by buying a jet, yacht, house, because I didn’t fight or struggle for it.
I’d not be chilling in the Bahamas, or [your favourite exotic destination]. When I was a kid, I was the most happiest the day before the final exams. Because I looked forward to what I’d do during the holidays. But, then the dread boredom sets in. I can’t relax. I love to work on something challenging. I’d love to work on things that push humanity towards new frontiers - outer space, neuroscience, healthcare, better ways of harnessing energy and making the world a better place for humans to thrive.
I’d not stop pushing my limits. I love to flex. The best flexes are the ones where I struggled to get something. I’d do Marathons, IRONMANs, HYROX, you name it.
I’d not work with people I don’t like. I can just ask them to fuck off.
I would not respond to people if I don’t want to. With unlimited wealth everyone wants your attention. Attention is scarce.
I’d not do things to please people. I can make music for myself. If I love it I am sure there would be at least 8 million fans.
Now this question, made it easier to answer a lot of questions. Here’s what it did for me:
Visualize the life I want to live.
Forced me to think about my values.
Problems that I deeply care about.
This exercise would not end here. Because it’s based on my life experiences so far. There are many things that would happen in the future and it would shape the answers to these questions.
I urge you sit with this question.
I’ll see you next week.
Do What You Can’t.
Love this - just excessively applying "via negativa" - what you don't want. I'd be a cool exercise to apply it to something totally unexpected - WDYT?