Somewhat related thought. I wonder about this with regard to AGI, I have this fantasy of a symbiote/friend thing. But it is not easy to make that. I don't know if I have the real/actual drive to do it. I'm also a mediocre programmer/developer. That kind of passion where you do it every free moment of your time/not monetary based. It is not for me. I tinker on CRUD stuff/low-end robotics on my free time. So yeah not sure of effort vs. talent/genius.
I used to have that passion. Every waking moment devoted to figuring out cool things. Or at least what seemed cool to me.
Then one day I joined a rocketship company and all my side projects and ideas started to feel small, boring, and insignificant. The grandest idea I could come up with couldn’t hold a light to even the most mundane problems a real business in the hockeystick part of the curve comes up with.
Sometimes I miss the motivation to tinker. Sometimes I cherish my newfound ability to relax. Perhaps one day I will tinker once more.
Some of the most useful inventions that we use today every day have been made by very stubborn people who were told thousands of times that their idea was stupid.
I still have the motivation and desire to work on some very interesting and super hard stuff one day -- and I am 42. You should get back to that enthusiasm. Maybe that business' ideas and actual products are much more useful and interesting on a general socially-accepted level. That doesn't mean that your thing isn't the best in the world to work on for you.
So IMO get back to doing your own stuff when you have the time and energy for it.
I’m sure exciting ideas will come again. Until then “Enjoying my dayjob too much” isn’t a bad place to be :)
That's true; Zuckerberg's parents told him that Facebook idea is stupid and that he should get his Harvard degree. Larry and Sergey couldn't sell Google to Excite for $350k because Excite's managers thought Google was unnecessary.
When I was younger (10+ years ago) I had all kinds of crazy ideas/things to make. High traffic websites, get rich, that kind of thing. But they were all dumb... unvalidated, went nowhere. But now that I know how to build things (web) I don't have any ideas. Funny how that works.
When you look at indie projects seems like there's so many niches/ways to make money out there. But personally I found it hard to do hence 9-5er.
I suspect in my case it’s a combination, but with a big dose of “been there, done that”. There’s only so many times you can get excited about a new tool or optimization.
The answer is, of course, to dive into something that isn’t tech. There’ll be a host of problems that seem/are fresh and interesting.
I used to work for one of the most famous imaging corporations in the world. My little team was part of an elite, worldwide, organization that created instruments that sold for tens of thousands of dollars, and were used to capture some of the most iconic images in history, and make some of the most astounding scientific discoveries.
Since leaving, I have been working; mostly alone, or with very little assistance from others, so my scope has been drastically reduced. I write little apps.
I love it. I am constantly working on code. My GH ID is solid green (no exaggeration), and is not "gamed," the way some folks do it.
I have no intentions of ever working for anyone again. I was constantly told that I was wrong, that my work was insignificant, that I should not cast my eyes heavenward, etc.
These days, I set my own agenda. I design my software the way that I always wanted (and was never allowed) to, and I am absolutely thrilled with the results.
Turns out, I was absolutely right, the whole time.
I wrote something like that, a few years ago; mainly to practice. I am now using it as the backend of the app I'm writing.
Good luck!