Every profile piece about a founder eventually gets to the "why" question. Why did you start this? What drives you? The expected answers are market opportunity, desire for impact, legacy.
Here is my honest answer: Tell me I can't do it.
That is the actual engine. Not the mission statement version the real one. When someone says it can't be done, or that I'm not the right person to do it, or that the category isn't viable, something activates. I become committed in a way that a positive opportunity alone never produces.
This Is Not About Money
I want to be direct about something that founders rarely say publicly: I'm not building AITX to become wealthy. The money is fine. My lifestyle won't substantially change whether this company reaches $100M or $1B in market cap. I'm already good.
What I'm after is the proof of concept. I want to demonstrate to myself, specifically that I can build a company to billions in market cap. Not for the ego. Not for the headline. Simply to see if I am capable of it. That's the actual target.
This might sound like semantics. It isn't. The difference between money-motivated and capability-motivated decisions is enormous in practice. When the company nearly collapsed in 2018, 2019, 2020 no salary, no resources, employees on deferred comp the financial motivation would have run out. The "prove I can do it" motivation didn't have an off switch.
Why Challenge Works Better Than Opportunity
Opportunity is abundant. Every founder who ever pitched you had an opportunity. The ones who survive aren't necessarily chasing the best opportunity they're the ones with a motivation that doesn't decay under pressure.
Challenge-based motivation is almost anti-fragile. The harder things get, the more the original commitment gets reinforced. I sold my house in 2019. I drained my wife's retirement account. I called employees biweekly to ask how much they needed to survive. None of that softened the resolve. If anything, it hardened it.
I'm not recommending this as a personality type to aspire to. I'm just being honest about what actually got us through.
What Keeps Me Here
AITX is not finished. The mission isn't done. I decided at age 10 that I would be CEO of a publicly traded company. I am. That goal was achieved. But the capability question how far can I actually take this? that remains open.
That question is enough.