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Sounds to me like you're good at creating software small-businesses, but you're not built for the tedium of running them.

I find it's often hard to discuss the business of software because of a variety of preconceptions people in the field have so let's turn this into a restaurant. You wanted to start an amazing new french restaurant, but to get started initially you decided you're going to be more of a cafe where costs are lower and it's easier to attract customers. In that cafe you start offering a few sandwiches, and some baked goods. Some of your baked goods were vegan. Soon you were inundated with vegans seeking baked goods, and you basically turned your whole operation into a pretty successful self-sustainable single-store vegan bakery. This wasn't the french restaurant you wanted to start (and could have sold to a restauranteur as some do once they show promise), nor is it a true "startup" success which would have had you opening in many cities, perhaps franchising, etc.

Nevertheless, you were to able to create a business (as you've done before), direct it into a market where you're not just making a profit, you're solving a true need. I don't know if it would help your self-fulfillment (because it sounds like you're lamenting the lack of it), but that's the aspect I would concentrate on, and just be aware that it is more likely than not that you'll get bored or disgusted with what you've created and move on to the next part. Just work out an efficient way to do this "moving on" portion, and I think you'd be able to do something you love and something you're good at. And in a few more of these, perhaps you'll create that one company that'll be your baby, not just your creation. (The trick is of course to treat them all as your baby at first)



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