Paul Graham Rebuts Indian Founder, Arguing Even Money and Fame Motivate Great Startups

Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham sparked a lively debate on Thursday when he directly contradicted an Indian entrepreneur’s viral advice on startup motivations, declaring that wanting to “make money” or “get famous” are perfectly legitimate reasons to found a company. The exchange, which unfolded on X, quickly racked up tens of thousands of views and reignited long-standing discussions about the “right” reasons to become an entrepreneur.

The original post by the unnamed Indian founder listed four motivations people should supposedly avoid: starting a company to make money, to become famous, to outdo others, or simply to call oneself CEO/founder. “Only do it if you’re crazy enough to do whatever it takes to solve a problem you deeply care about,” the tweet concluded. Graham, whose 2005 essay “How to Start a Startup” remains required reading for founders worldwide, replied bluntly: “Actually those are all legitimate motivations. I started Viaweb very explicitly to make money, and that worked out well enough.” Viaweb, co-founded by Graham in 1995, was sold to Yahoo for $49.6 million in 1998—one of the earliest blockbuster startup exits.

The Indian founder responded graciously, thanking Graham for the perspective and noting he had been a long-time reader of the YC co-founder’s essays. Graham’s single-line rebuttal drew thousands of reactions, with many users praising the honesty. “It’s arguably much healthier than when people pretend they do it for some grand reason and that they are completely disinterested in money,” one commenter wrote. Another added, “If you’re not focused on making money, then you’re doing a disservice not only to yourself but to all the employees at your company.”

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The exchange underscores a cultural divide that often surfaces in global startup conversations: the Silicon Valley acceptance of raw ambition versus the growing emphasis in some ecosystems on mission-driven or “impact-first” entrepreneurship. Graham has long argued that profit motive and genuine problem-solving are not mutually exclusive, a view reinforced by his decades of mentoring thousands of YC companies that collectively command trillions in market value.

As of Thursday evening, Graham’s reply had been viewed over 1.2 million times, once again proving that few voices carry as much weight in the startup world as the man who helped define modern entrepreneurship.

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