I actually can't seem to remember this interview but it certainly rings true for me! Again, this might be an age based difference. When I was younger I was going to be "the next Bill Gates, but so much better, and so much more ethical, and cooler!" I actually said pretty much exactly that. I wrote up a plan in my very early 20's on how to become a billionaire by 30.

Post 35 years old, I wanted to start a business for entirely different reasons. I didn't care if I was a billionaire. I didn't worry about whether my company was in a good position to accept seed funding or venture capital. I wasn't worried about whether it would grow to the point of being sold or go public. I worried about profitability, sales, making the best products for my customers, and whether my target customers were happy and my market segment was growing.

Now, I don't want to make it sound like those other things (being in a position to take seed funding or venture capital, going public, becoming a billion dollar company, etc) are bad things. They aren't! My personal focus had changed by then. That is all. Did it make me more successful? I have no idea at all!