In it for the money?

Seth Godin talks about how top innovators create first and turn their inventions or ideas into profit later.

In fact, the more I think about it, the more it seems that pioneers are almost never in it for the money. The smart ones figure out how to take a remarkable innovation and turn it into a living (or a bigger than big payout) but not the other way around. I think the reason is pretty obvious: when you try to make a profit from your innovation, you stop innovating too soon.

It’s nice to think that people create for the good of mankind/sheer enjoyment of it but Seth’s view seems to support the kind of thinking that inflated the first web bubble and (some would argue) bubble 2.0.

All inventions / innovations reach a point when they need a hard cash injection and if there’s no way of repaying your investors through a solid revenue stream your new widget or web app might never leave the garden shed.