Entrepreneurship is creating a universe you're comfortable in

I was watching a recent talk that Bob Geldof gave (not online and can't share it, unfortunately), and something eh said struck a chord in me.

He talked about his childhood, which wasn't great, to put it mildly.

And so he decided to create a universe that he could be comfortable in.

That eventually led to the Boomtown Rats, but it's gone way beyond that with the Live Aid and Live 8 charity concerts.

It reminded me of one of the early RailsConf keynotes from David Heinemeier Hansson, where he responded to the people lambasting him for not living in the "real world".

He said something like this:

"No, I don't live in the real world, and I have no desire whatsoever to live in the real world. I'm doing great, thank you very much, living in this bubble of delusion. If you want to come join me, please do. If you insist on living in the so-called real world, fine by me, whatever floats your boat."

Point being, of course, that the "real world" becomes a club that you can use to keep yourself and other people down.

In order to make something great, you have to bend some rules somewhere.

And that's going to upset some people.

So be it.

This seems to be a central motivation for many entrepreneurs. We're not comfortable working for other people or within the confines of the "corporate world" or the "real world" so we create our own universe where we're free to be who we are.