434: Follow Your Passion (But Not Like That)

Summary of 434: Follow Your Passion (But Not Like That)

by Arvid Kahl

13m•January 30, 2026
Listen to Episode

Overview of 434: Follow Your Passion (But Not Like That)

Arvid Kahl critiques the common entrepreneurial maxim "follow your passion," arguing it's dangerous if taken literally (i.e., "do what you love and try to make money from it"). Instead he reframes the idea: use your intimate knowledge of a hobby or interest to identify unmet needs other people in that community have, then build products or services that solve those problems. The episode explains why many passions aren't directly monetizable, gives concrete examples, and lays out a practical approach for turning passion into a viable business without ruining the joy of the hobby.

Main argument

  • "Follow your passion" is ambiguous and often bad advice when interpreted as "turn what you love into a paid job."
  • Many passions create internal, non-quantifiable value (joy, meaning) that can't or shouldn't be monetized.
  • The reliably monetizable opportunities are often adjacent to the passion: services, tools, or middle-people roles that enable others to enjoy the passion more easily.
  • The right way to follow your passion is to focus on helping other people who share it by solving real problems they face.

Key examples and why they matter

  • Writing/books:
    • Passion: people love reading/writing, but many readers who try to write are not good at distributing or marketing.
    • Monetizable roles: editors, cover designers, layout, marketing—these mediate the value and can be profitable.
  • Miniature painting (personal hobby of the host):
    • Passion: painting miniatures is intrinsically valuable to the hobbyist; outsourcing it removes the joy for many.
    • Monetizable adjacent market: supplies, paints, basing materials, STL files for 3D printing terrain/miniatures, print-and-sell services.
  • Baking:
    • Passion: selling cakes locally has limits.
    • Adjacent opportunity: build a digital community, learning platform, contest organizer, or tools that replace manual processes and scale better than a local storefront.

Practical framework — how to "follow your passion" correctly

  1. Identify your passion community
    • Who else shares it? Where do they congregate? What language/terms do they use?
  2. Observe jobs-to-be-done and pain points
    • What do people struggle with? What do they cobble together or accept as friction?
  3. Map your unique skills to those problems
    • What can you do that others in the community cannot (or would rather not) do?
  4. Choose an adjacent, monetizable angle
    • Tools, marketplaces, content platforms, services, or middle-person roles often work best.
  5. Validate with customers
    • Talk to people, test willingness to pay, and iterate like any other product.
  6. Build an MVP that reduces friction or replaces manual/pen-and-paper workflows
    • Make it easy for the hobbyist to get to their desired outcome.
  7. Listen and scale
    • After initial users, refine, and consider whether you're helping end users or the facilitators (agencies, stores) in the middle.

Actionable checklist (quick)

  • List 3 communities you belong to and their biggest frustrations.
  • For each frustration, note who currently solves it and how (DIY, freelancers, manual process).
  • Identify one problem you can solve with a digital product or service within 1–3 months.
  • Talk to 5 potential customers and ask if they'd pay for the solution (and how much).
  • Build the smallest version that delivers value, price it, and iterate based on feedback.

Notable quotes / insights

  • "Most of the time, we do things we love because they produce value that's not easily quantified."
  • "Build a business that helps other people with their hobby or passion."
  • "You’re not trying to monetize your joy directly. You’re building tools and services that enhance other people's experience of that same passion."

Who this episode is for

  • Hobbyists who want to start a business but fear killing the joy of their passion.
  • Early-stage founders looking for ideas grounded in real customer pain.
  • Makers and indie hackers who want a practical way to validate passion-based business ideas.

Final takeaway

Don’t interpret "follow your passion" as "sell what you do for your own joy." Instead, use your deep domain knowledge to serve others who share the passion by solving their concrete problems—especially where they lack the skills, time, or desire. That’s where meaningful, scalable, and profitable businesses are built.

Sponsor mention

  • Host uses Paddle.com as a merchant-of-record to handle taxes, currencies, card updates, and payments for his software projects.