Mission-driven founders

5 May 2026

People ask me this a lot over coffee: what makes a good founder?

imo, mission-driven founders are incredibly rare. And they usually get better outcomes... especially if you define "outcome" as actual happiness.

To me, being mission-driven means you're almost stupidly passionate and laser-focused on why the company exists. Like at Tech in Asia, we just wanted to build and serve the startup ecosystem here. That was the whole point.

Hardship and failure are basically guaranteed for founders. Being obsessed with the mission just acts like a painkiller when things inevitably go to shit.

It also creates insane alignment. When the founder is obsessed, the team actually knows what they're aiming at, which makes execution way more focused.

These mission-driven founders block out the noise better, too. Intrinsic motivation is what keeps them up at night. They know exactly what they're chasing deep down.

So on the flip side... if you secretly know you're in the wrong market or chasing the wrong mission, but you keep grinding anyway solely for the pride or the money. Then, chances are, you're gonna burn out.

Looking back, I was 23 years old when I started out (and knew absolutely nothing), so I'm insanely fortunate to have been part of building Tech in Asia.

Honestly, I won't even pull the trigger on my next adventure unless I'm confident I'll find that exact same "sense of mission."