I'm ambivalent about wanting to make millions. I believe very firmly that money per se doesn't solve problems and can compound them. (I have heard that two thirds of folks who win the lottery are bankrupt within five years and some of them have bad things happen because they are suddenly rich.) But I and my oldest son have a medical condition that can cost millions over the course of one's life and we have basically gotten well at a fraction of the price it usually costs to keep people like us limping along. So I suspect that once all the fall out from that is fully resolved, I may have the potential to make millions.
My concern isn't so much how much wealth I have (after achieving a certain level of security), but making sure it doesn't screw up my life. I think at times about the American fantasy of winning the lottery and I suspect that would wreak havoc with my life whereas earning it shouldn't have the same kind of impact. One problem with winning it is that it suddenly and irrevocably cuts a lot of your social ties -- for example, people typically leave their jobs promptly and often don't have any real plans other than to party hardy with their newfound wealth. But earning it usually involves building solid social ties: Relationships to the business community, to your customers, to your employees/coworkers/cofounders, and so on. I think when people have too much aimless time on their hands and too little in the way of healthy social ties, it tends to lead to bad things. A lot of people seem to desperately want to win money because they have unhealthy/unhappy social ties they wish they could escape (like their job) but the reality is that money by itself doesn't usually resolve personal problems. So being able to show up at work one day and tell your boss "Fuck you" to his/her face doesn't necessarily lead to the freedom and peacefulness that such people likely are envisioning.
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I'm ambivalent about wanting to make millions. I believe very firmly that money per se doesn't solve problems and can compound them. (I have heard that two thirds of folks who win the lottery are bankrupt within five years and some of them have bad things happen because they are suddenly rich.) But I and my oldest son have a medical condition that can cost millions over the course of one's life and we have basically gotten well at a fraction of the price it usually costs to keep people like us limping along. So I suspect that once all the fall out from that is fully resolved, I may have the potential to make millions.
My concern isn't so much how much wealth I have (after achieving a certain level of security), but making sure it doesn't screw up my life. I think at times about the American fantasy of winning the lottery and I suspect that would wreak havoc with my life whereas earning it shouldn't have the same kind of impact. One problem with winning it is that it suddenly and irrevocably cuts a lot of your social ties -- for example, people typically leave their jobs promptly and often don't have any real plans other than to party hardy with their newfound wealth. But earning it usually involves building solid social ties: Relationships to the business community, to your customers, to your employees/coworkers/cofounders, and so on. I think when people have too much aimless time on their hands and too little in the way of healthy social ties, it tends to lead to bad things. A lot of people seem to desperately want to win money because they have unhealthy/unhappy social ties they wish they could escape (like their job) but the reality is that money by itself doesn't usually resolve personal problems. So being able to show up at work one day and tell your boss "Fuck you" to his/her face doesn't necessarily lead to the freedom and peacefulness that such people likely are envisioning.