Great motivation to start Ouro came from the realization that I was not creating for others in ways that mattered. Maybe on paper I was (abc thing delivered to xyz company), but internally I was not.
When I remember it now, I see that I was working for myself in pretty much every way. Having gone without a paycheck for a while now, I feel I can see the difference more clearly now. Back then, and while I loved what I was doing for the most part, I ultimately worked to prove my value to the company and capture that paycheck.
It's a mindset thing. The products I built may have been for the company, but I barely had the users or the people I could be helping in mind. I just wanted to look good and show off how talented I was.
And there's nothing wrong with that. I'd even recommend it to those that are just starting out. There's going to be a sense of imposter syndrome and self-doubt, but through your own success will you gain confidence and become more comfortable with your own abilities.
Now that I've started Ouro, I feel like I can't work that way anymore. So while the output can look very similar, but the intention behind it is different.
I still catch myself doing it. I think a lot of what I'm doing on the materials science side of things is for myself. I really do love learning and exploring and trying to push boundaries in that field.
But it's not my highest mission.