Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to Happiness & the Entrepreneur’s Key to Success

By Carleigh Brown ’26, Associate

Would you believe me if I told you I knew the secret to happiness? Perhaps not, but ikigai might be the gatekeeper to the next best thing. Ikigai is a fusion of two Japanese words: “iki” and “gai.” “Iki” roughly translates to life, while “gai” means worth. In essence, it is the culmination of a life worth living, the intersection of purpose and passion. It is a holistic approach to not only personal fulfillment, but also professional success. Ikigai is often represented graphically as a Venn Diagram of four overlapping circles:

1. What you love (Passion)
2. What you’re good at (Mission)
3. What the world needs (Purpose)
4. What can make you money (Profession)

Finding the intersection sounds like a lofty undertaking, but I believe that this convergence is exactly what an entrepreneur seeks to find. For entrepreneurs, this framework provides more than just the key to fulfillment, but the roadmap to innovative success.

So, how does ikigai promote entrepreneurial success?

Passion drives innovation.

Whether you’re a believer in the token phrase, “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life!” or not, we can all sympathize with feeling more motivated to do tasks we enjoy, rather than those we don’t. Researcher and entrepreneur, Marcus Buckingham, writes, “You don’t have to love all that you do, but if you have no love for any of your work then you won’t be creative, innovative, or resilient.” Creativity, innovation, and resilience are prerequisites to acquiring the job title “entrepreneur”. Those traits set the entrepreneur apart from those who simply seek to monetize their romanticized passion projects.

Mission sets trajectory.

One of the first questions entrepreneurs are likely asked after a pitch is their “why” — what drew them to this business idea? Why did they throw all their eggs in this basket? It is because investors want to be certain that the founder is 100% invested with all their cards on the table. Reservation and uncertainty equal business failure. In the world of entrepreneurship, you’re not just pitching a product — you’re pitching yourself. No one writes a check to a founder who is neither passionate nor mission-driven. Being completely behind the mission of your company assures investors that whether the idea sinks or swims, the founder is glued at the helm of the ship.

Purpose fuels the long run.

Building a product or business from the ground up is a long-run game. I’m not talking long-game Monopoly here, I’m talking 10+ years. What fuels motivation when the company burn rate is creeping higher and the end of the runway is creeping closer? Purpose. A good entrepreneur sees beyond setbacks to the horizon of fulfilling a societal need.

Profession, not profit.

We’ve all heard stories about founders who are merely profit-driven or whose product is misaligned with personal passions. According to the government of Japan, “Those who work only for financial reasons, compared with those who work in pursuit of their ikigai, have a 1.55 times greater risk of decline.” It’s an industry-known statistic that 90% of startups fail within the first few years. Ironically, those startups also rarely break even, meaning, for most entrepreneurs, their profession is not a money maker. Why then are 4.7 million businesses started every year? It’s because everyone wants to be part of the opposing statistic: the 10% who do make a profit. The entrepreneur driven by profit is bound to fail, but the one who has found the sweet spot where passion meets mission and purpose meets profession comprises the 10%.

While many entrepreneurs focus on profitability or integrating the hottest new tech, ikigai encourages something deeper: an alignment with a business purpose, addressing a societal need, while also staying financially afloat. For many entrepreneurs, the seed idea stems from a passion or a hobby project. The company is the medium through which the passion is expressed, and seeks to provide the world with something it needs by way of its differentiating factor. And if the entrepreneur is lucky, she will make some money along the way. This framework provides not only the key to fulfillment, but also the roadmap to innovative success. Though there’s something to be said about maintaining work-life balance, perhaps it is possible to make a career of your passion, while pursuing your purpose, and using entrepreneurship as a vehicle of expression. In this way, ikigai isn’t just the key to happiness; it’s the blueprint for lasting entrepreneurial success.

Carleigh is a junior from New Ipswich, NH pursuing a degree in Economics with a concentration in Public Policy and Sustainability. Outside of the Rines Fund, she participates in Model United Nations and Women’s Club Rugby, manages Quickbooks and invoicing for Toah Nipi Retreat Center, and hopes to pursue a career in economic policy analysis. In her second semester in the fund, she looks forward to gaining more insight into the world of entrepreneurship and angel investing as well as making meaningful connections and gaining research skills.