An angel investor who's helped start over 100 companies explains why it's a good thing to be in business for the money

Fortier Public Relations

In most social settings, it would come off as crass to proclaim your love of money, and your ambitions to make lots of it.

Better to talk about your passion for your job and how it allows you contribute to society at large.

But if you're an entrepreneur trying to convince an investor to get behind your business idea, a sense of passion and purpose is hardly enough.

That's according to David Rose, a serial investor and entrepreneur who's founded or funded over 100 companies. Rose is the founder and CEO of Gust, which runs a platform and community for entrepreneurs and early-stage investors. He's also the author of two books, most recently "The Startup Checklist."

Rose told Business Insider that, when deciding whether to invest in an entrepreneur's business, he looks for someone who has passion and wants to make money.

"You can't be in it just for the money," Rose said. "There are a lot better ways to make money than being an entrepreneur."

On the other hand, Rose said, he sometimes sees entrepreneurs who are well-intentioned but lack a solid business plan — and almost always passes on them:

I give them lots of props for trying the heal the world and do good things. But all too often they come in with a very fuzzy business plan that doesn't make sense. And they say, "Oh it doesn't matter if it makes sense. This is all for a good cause, and I don't care about making money; I just care about doing good."

He added: "If somebody tells me they're not in it for a profit, I do not want to invest — because I'm in it for a profit!"

Instead, he looks for a balance between passion for the job and financial ambition: "What I want it somebody who says, 'I'm doing this because I love doing this. I love starting a company; I love the business that I'm doing; and I'm passionate about doing it. And yeah, by the way, I really hope this makes me a billion dollars.'"

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