When Your Why Is Clear, Investors Can See It

Credit: Mira Murati / Mira Murati's LinkedIn

Mira Murati just raised the largest seed round in history - $2 billion at a $12 billion valuation. No product. No revenue. No demo. Just vision and belief in a mission. Sure, the fact that she was OpenAI's CTO who built the technologies behind ChatGPT and DALL·E probably didn't hurt, but still - she managed to raise a record-breaking amount for her six-month-old startup. The world's biggest investors - a16z, NVIDIA, AMD, and Accel - invested not because of the technology (there isn't any yet), but because of something much deeper.

She knew exactly why she woke up in the morning.

There's a specific moment in a meeting with an entrepreneur when you just know. No matter how long they've been talking about their idea - their eyes suddenly light up. Their body leans forward. Their voice changes. Something in the room changes.

This doesn't happen when they talk about the technology or financial projections. It happens when they get to the "why" part. Why them specifically. Why now specifically. Why this matters so much to them that they're willing to give up good salary, security, hours of sleep.

Investors feel this within the first few minutes. It's not something you can fake. We all know that investors invest in entrepreneurs, not ideas. This isn't new.

When the Heart Meets the Mind

In the YourMarket.Fit methodology, we recognize that there are several different ways to achieve balance between your passion (your Why) and your skills and ability to make a living:

• Time Sharing - The most common approach. You work at what you're best at and what pays you the most, and you fulfill your passions (your Why) separately - through volunteering, hobbies, or personal projects.

• Partial Overlap or Tangential Connection - When you find ways to bring parts of your passion into your work, or use your professional skills to advance causes you believe in.

• Full Overlap - The rare and amazing cases where what you love most to do is also what you're best at and also what pays you the most. When this happens, something special occurs. The story tells itself. You don't need to convince anyone because your passion is contagious. And your authenticity is natural because it's truly what you believe in.

Most people can find satisfaction in the first option, somewhat fewer in the second possibility, and the third option is much rarer and harder to achieve.

But entrepreneurship? That's a completely different game.

In entrepreneurship, because of the enormous difficulties that lie ahead and because of the need to transmit real passion and infect everyone with it - investors, employees, and customers - you can't compromise. You must either create a venture that's perfectly aligned with your Why, or find a Why that connects completely with your venture.

Because you can't fake it. The difficulties will expose any lack of authenticity.

Why in Entrepreneurship It's Life or Death

I remember a conversation with an entrepreneur who came to me after three waves of investor rejections. "Martin," he said to me, "maybe I'm just not cut out for entrepreneurship. Maybe I should go back to regular work."

When I asked him why he started the venture in the first place, he answered that it made business sense. That he saw a market opportunity. That he thought he could make good money.

And that's exactly the problem.

Those who survived this journey, who built successful companies - they all shared one thing. They had to solve the problem for which they founded their venture. It wasn't just a good idea for them. It was a mission.

Because entrepreneurship is a marathon of pain. Customers who don't come, investors who say "no," team members who leave at critical moments, months without income, self-doubt at 3 AM. In those moments, if your goal is just to "make money" - there will always be an easier alternative. There will always be a good job waiting for you.

But when you know you must solve this problem in the world, when it's your mission - the energies become infinite. The customers' pain becomes your pain. The solution becomes the only thing that matters.

And then investors see it. Then they understand that you won't give up.

The Question That Separates Dreamers from Achievers

Most entrepreneurs start with technology or business opportunity. They miss the most important question: "Why do I specifically have to solve this problem?"

This is the difference between "there's a business opportunity here" and "this is my mission." Between "I think this will work" and "I know this will work." Between "let's try" and "I have no choice, I must do this."

Before your next pitch, ask yourself one simple question: "Can I explain why I specifically must solve this problem, without mentioning the technology or the market?"

If the answer doesn't flow naturally, if you start talking about business opportunities or competitive advantages - stop. It's time to find your real Why.

Because in the end, funding rounds aren't led just by skills or ideas. They're led by real passion that's visible from afar. By passion that burns so bright it ignites everyone who encounters it.

If you feel you have a great idea but something is missing from your story, let's talk. Sometimes all it takes is digging a little deeper to find the Why that's already there.