What motivates entrepreneurs?

For pot entrepreneurs it appears to be a combination of money and a cause:

In many ways, medical marijuana entrepreneurs are no different than any other business start-ups: They need a business plan, venture capital and a fair dose of fortitude.

They also are likely to have something not generally found in most small-business owners: an activist streak.

More than half (58 percent) of those in the burgeoning industry say they started their businesses to promote expansion of medical marijuana or outright legalization, according to a report released last month analyzing the growing market. Only 12 percent said “financial opportunity” was their primary motivation.

As a comparison a survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Business looking a business in general found that 29 percent of people making money was their primary motivator for starting a business.

Jeffrey Miron, director of undergraduate studies at Harvard's Economics Department, finds the data on cannabis entrepreneurs interesting — but not surprising.

"This has been a suppressed industry for decades. People have had to worry about jail time and asset forfeiture. So it is understandable that the people in this industry have a passion for social change," said Miron, who has studied and written extensively about drug prohibition. "And let's be very clear here: Making money and activism aren't mutually exclusive. They can do both."

So pot growers are entrepreneurs, both economically and socially.