Most founders start with the wrong question. They ask "what business should I build?" when they should be asking "what bothers me so much that I can't help but try to fix it?"
The best founders I know didn't choose their path through careful market analysis. They were compelled into it by a deep irritation with how things are. This isn't just annoyance - it's a visceral feeling that something is wrong with the world and needs to be fixed.
But having strong feelings about a problem isn't enough. You need what I call the "competence intersection" - where what bothers you overlaps with what you're genuinely good at. I've seen too many founders try to solve problems they care about but aren't equipped to handle.
There's a third piece that often gets overlooked: your network's natural reaction to your ideas. When you talk about certain problems, do people lean in? Do they naturally want to help? This is your network telling you something important about your authentic alignment with the problem.
In Eastern philosophy, particularly in the concept of the gunas, this alignment is called sattvic energy - it's pure, balanced, and harmonious. But here's what Westerners often miss: you don't have to start in perfect balance. Most successful founders start with rajas energy - dynamic and passionate - and gradually move toward sattva.
Think of it like this: rajas is the rocket fuel that gets you off the ground, but sattva is the orbital path you're aiming for. You need both. Without rajas, you'll never overcome inertia. Without moving toward sattva, you'll burn out.
I see this pattern repeatedly in successful founders. They start with intense, almost obsessive energy about their problem (rajas). But as they build, they naturally move toward more sustainable, balanced approaches (sattva). This isn't just good for them - it's good for their companies.
The trick is finding problems where your rajas energy naturally leads toward sattva. If you're constantly fighting yourself or your market, that's a sign you're on the wrong path. The right problem feels like pushing a boulder downhill - hard work, but aligned with natural forces.
Here's a practical way to find this alignment: Write down what makes you angry about the world. Not mild irritation, but real anger. Now list what you're exceptionally good at. Finally, note which topics make your friends and colleagues naturally engage with you.
Where these three circles overlap, you'll usually find your purpose. But here's the key: it should feel both exciting and peaceful. If it only feels exciting, you're probably chasing someone else's dream. If it only feels peaceful, you might not have the fire to push through the hard parts.
The best founders I know have this dual quality - they're intensely driven but also fundamentally at peace with their mission. They're not trying to be founders; they're trying to solve their problem. The founder part is just a side effect.
This is what I mean by sattvic founder mode. It's not about being calm all the time - it's about having the right kind of fire. The kind that energizes rather than burns out. The kind that attracts the right people and resources naturally.
Most founder advice focuses on tactics - how to raise money, how to hire, how to grow. But these are secondary problems. Get the purpose right - that intersection of problem, skill, and natural alignment - and these tactical problems become much more solvable.
The world doesn't need more startups. It needs more founders who are deeply aligned with their purpose. Find what bothers you, check if you're equipped to fix it, listen to how your network responds, and pay attention to the quality of your energy as you work on it.
This isn't just philosophical - it's practical. Aligned founders are more resilient, make better decisions, and ultimately build more impactful companies. They also tend to be happier, which in the grueling journey of building something new, turns out to be a crucial competitive advantage.