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Is machine learning overhyped?Chemists weigh in on the technique’s possibilities and its pitfallsby Sam LemonickAUGUST 27, 2018 | APPEARED IN VOLUME 96, ISSUE 3409634-feature1-machineillus.jpgCredit: Shutterstock/C&ENMachine learning is totally overhyped. Machine learning is completely not overhyped. Machine learning is transformative. Machine learning is a tool like any other.Ask 10 chemists what they think about the promise of machine learning, and you’ll get 10 different answers. That might make for a lively Twitter debate, but the discussion also has serious implications.If machine learning is less valuable than it’s been claimed to be, says George Schatz, a physical chemist at Northwestern University, “people end up wasting time and effort” testing it in their labs. Scientists who invest training, lab time, and money into machine learning could find themselves in a difficult position if the tool doesn’t solve a problem as promised.On the other hand, if machine learning is the wave of the future, chemists who aren’t using it risk falling behind their peers.Sign up for C&EN's must-read weekly newsletterEmail AddressSubscribe »Contact us to opt out anytimeIt probably won’t be possible to definitively answer the question “Is machine learning overhyped?” without the benefit of hindsight. But after conducting dozens of conversations with chemists, C&EN has found that a consensus about the current state of machine learning emerges.Machine learning is a category of artificial intelligence that describes a computer’s ability to train on a set of data and then create rules or knowledge from that data. Chemists are often interested in the tool’s predictive power. For instance, if you give a machine-learning algorithm a list of 100 metal alloys and their melting points, can it predict the melting point of an alloy it hasn’t encountered before—potentially even one that’s never been synthesized?Despite all this promise—or perceived promise—one thing that machine learning isn’t is magic. “Let’s be realistic,” says George Dahl, a computer scientist at Google. “Machine learning is nonlinear regression,” a simple type of statistical analysis in which collected data are “fit” with model parameters. Dahl won a Merck & Co. machine-learning competition while a graduate student in Geoffrey Hinton’s group at the University of Toronto.Making machine learning sound like something it’s not yet could be bad for the technique itself. If it can’t live up to the bar that’s been set, funders and scientists may decide machine learning isn’t worth their time. “We need the most brilliant minds to feel enticed” to study it and explore its benefits for it to be successful, says Nuno Maulide, an organic synthetic chemist at the University of Vienna.To explore the space between what some have promised and what machine learning might actually deliver—and to discern among chemists a consensus about the much-ballyhooed tool—C&EN has examined some of the fields where it’s generating the most enthusiasm and skepticism.DRUG DISCOVERYPharmaceutical companies were natural early adopters of machine learning for a few reasons. Drug companies could afford computing power when it was still out of reach for many chemists, and they had reams of data about small molecules and biological targets with which to train algorithms.SPONSORED CONTENTTheory and Practice of LC Method Translations & Transfersby Mac-Mod Analytical, Inc.ADVERTISEMENTSCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENTThe industry had motivation in addition to means. Machine learning offered the same promise to speed up and improve drug discovery as combinatorial chemistry or high-throughput screening, whose stars have since waxed and waned. “Pharma is very hopeful for new technologies because drug development is extremely difficult, and practitioners are always seeking new ways of making success more likely,” says Robert P. Sheridan, a computational chemist recently retired from Merck & Co.SURVEY RESULTSC&EN RECENTLY SURVEYED CHEMISTS ONLINE ABOUT WHAT THEY THINK OF MACHINE LEARNING. HERE’S WHAT THEY SAID.30%Percentage of respondents that say they use machine learning regularly in their workWhat’s the area of chemistry in which you think machine learning has the potential to have the biggest impact?“In my experience, the availability of information is so overwhelming that it is hard to make sure that the conclusions that we obtain from the literature search are not biased. I think that machine learning will help to obtain statistically unbiased bibliographic information.”—Samuel Nunez-Pertinez, graduate student, University of Birmingham“It has the potential to see trends in data that humans tend to overlook. The tools provided by machine learning will aid the chemist in decision-making by providing suggestions that may spark new ideas.” —Thomas Struble, postdoctoral researcher, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyWhat’s the area of chemistry in which you think expectations for machine learning are the most unrealistic?“Since machine learning simply is interpolation within big data sets, it will remain difficult or impossible to use in areas where it is hard to generate large sets of reliable data, because extrapolation by machine learning can and will produce wildly wrong answers.”—Bernd Hartke, professor, University of Kiel“Analytical chemistry. It will be very difficult for chemists and legislators to rely on results from machines without knowing the exact process that led from sample to result.”—Andrea Leoncini, postdoctoral researcher, National University of Singapore“Just as density functional theory hasn’t replaced wave-function-based methods and neither has obviated the need to do experimental work, machine-learning methods aren’t going to replace quantum chemical methods. They do, however, have the potential to give a better return on the computations we do run.”—Marissa Estep, graduate student, University of GeorgiaWhat area of chemistry do you work in?Organic chemistry:23.3%Physical chemistry:17.3%Analytical chemistry:16.0%Inorganic chemistry:12.7%Biochemistry:10.0%Computational chemistry:7.3%Other:13.3%Total respondents = 150Note: Total does not equal 100% because of rounding. Not all respondents answered each question.Source: 2018 C&EN online pollPrecisely when drug companies first adopted machine learning depends a bit on how you define it. They’ve used artificial neural network (ANN) algorithms, a simple form of machine learning, in drug design for almost half a century. In 1973 a group of researchers in the U.S.S.R. demonstrated that an ANN could predict the bioactivity of substituted 1,3-dioxanes (Comput. Biomed. Res. 1973, DOI: 10.1016/0010-4809(73)90074-8).Starting in the 1990s, medicinal chemists used ANNs in quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models. QSAR models make predictions about a molecule’s properties according to the known properties of other molecules to help decide whether it’s worth pursuing as a possible drug. Random-forest algorithms and support vector machines—also types of machine learning—have now largely replaced ANNs in QSAR modeling.From that perspective, Sheridan says, it’s not quite right to say that machine learning is overhyped. “ ‘Machine learning in chemistry’ in the sense of QSAR has been used for decades and is demonstrably useful,” he says. QSAR models aren’t perfect, but companies like Merck continue to use them because they can help chemists prioritize which sets of molecules to spend their time on, and that saves money and effort.Pharma has already been through the machine-learning “hype cycle.” Consulting firm Gartner introduced that term in 1995 to describe the way people view new technologies. At first, the innovation rapidly gains attention on the way to a peak of inflated expectations, then it sinks into a valley of disillusionment. As people sort out its limitations and actual abilities, the technology levels out on a plateau of productivity. People familiar with the pharmaceutical industry may recognize those ebbs and flows from hyped innovations of the recent past, like nanotechnology and combinatorial chemistry.Drug companies don’t seem to have developed any resistance to hype despite these repeated exposures. Deep neural networks are having their moment in drug discovery right now, approaching peak hype, according to Sheridan. Like ANNs, deep neural networks are built to resemble the brain: Information passes through a series of interconnected nodes akin to neurons. Each node analyzes pieces of information in a particular way, then passes them on to its neighbors. It’s how image-recognition software identifies shadows and shapes, then eventually eyes and ears, and finally an individual face. Deep neural networks have more layers of these nodes than their predecessors, and they’ve made possible huge advances in fields like image recognition and natural language processing.Deep neural networks’ ability to learn even from very complex data makes them especially attractive in pharmaceutical chemistry. Abraham Heifets is cofounder and CEO of Atomwise, which makes deep-neural-network-based software for predicting binding affinities of drug candidates to targets in the body. He calls the introduction of deep neural networks a fundamental change in machine learning.SPONSORED CONTENTFacing data management challenges in the labby WatersSome have accused Atomwise of overhyping machine learning’s capabilities. A 2015 TechCrunch article quoted the firm’s cofounder Alexander Levy as saying the Atomwise software allowed him to predict a cure for measles from his living room. In a response to a post about the article on the drug discovery and pharma blog In the Pipeline, Levy suggested the blame lay partly with the reporter: “Wouldn’t it be nice if Atomwise works even half as well as it sounds on TechCrunch?” he wrote. Levy left Atomwise earlier this year.Heifets seems cognizant of the reputation companies like Atomwise have gained. He’s clear that Atomwise is not predicting a cure for anything. “Our focus is binding affinity. Binding is not a drug,” he says.Others in the field echo that sentiment. Even if machine learning can accurately predict molecules that have high binding affinities to targets—and even if it can do that better than humans—there are still many other steps to creating a profitable new drug. “The drug discovery pipeline is long,” Google’s Dahl says. Adding machine-learning tools to the discovery process could be like developing a better microscope or assay, he adds: It would have a small but real impact.Big pharmaceutical companies are nonetheless enthusiastic about deep neural networks, though like Heifets they’re careful to temper expectations. “To imagine AI or machine learning would solve all of the problems is not the way we think about it. It is powerful at discrete tasks,” says Jeremy Jenkins, head of chemical biology and therapeutics data science at Novartis.Still, chemists are seeing deep neural networks as a way of taking drug discovery to a new level, by unraveling complex data collected from the biology happening inside the human body. “Often, biology is so complicated that it’s difficult to wrap one’s head around,” says Vijay Pande, a general partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and a computational chemist at Stanford University. He thinks we humans may have reached our limits of understanding biological data but that machine learning will be able to make sense of the interface where drug chemistry meets the body’s biology.Jenkins says that ability could let machine learning suggest a molecule or molecules for medicinal chemists to focus their efforts on and get them to potential drugs faster. That sounds a lot like what proponents of earlier iterations of machine learning have promised, and some are skeptical that deep learning will be any different. Sheridan says when his group compared deep neural networks with other machine-learning methods, they found statistically significant improvements in predictive ability. But he says the benefits were almost always modest in the context of the entire drug discovery pipeline.ADVERTISEMENTIt may be that while machine learning can benefit drug discovery, it will have greater impacts in other areas of chemistry.MATERIALS RESEARCH“The reason machine learning for drug discovery is hard is because the question is ill posed,” says Leroy Cronin, a chemist at the University of Glasgow. Machine learning has proved it does well with a defined goal, like recognizing a face. But Cronin explains that because humans don’t fully understand what makes a drug successful—as opposed to what constitutes, say, a face—we don’t know what data to give a machine-learning algorithm to make it successful. It’s possible that deep neural networks’ ability to deal with more-complex data sets could set them apart, but that remains to be seen. Cronin and others think machine learning is likely to have a bigger impact sooner in materials research.“How does the chemistry affect the material’s property? There’s a direct connection,” says Jillian Buriak, a materials chemist at the University of Alberta and editor in chief of Chemistry of Materials. A crystal’s hardness is a consequence of how its atoms bond to one another, for example. That means machine learning is likely to be more immediately useful for materials research, she explains.Materials science came later than medicinal chemistry to machine learning, embracing it only in the past decade or so. Still, a number of papers have already shown that machine-learning algorithms can predict molecules or materials with desired properties, sometimes to humans’ surprise. Algorithms have discovered spin-crossover complexes, which are inorganic complexes that might act as switches and sensors (J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2018, DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b00170), and they’ve found metallic glasses made with alloys that hadn’t previously been theorized (Sci. Adv. 2018, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaq1566).Like in pharma, materials research has long been using techniques that now would be called machine learning. Heather Kulik, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemical engineering professor who led the spin-crossover complex research, says that when she started her lab four or five years ago, she told people her goal was to extend what worked in organic cheminformatics to inorganic chemistry. “These days I’d never say that,” Kulik says. “These days I’d say we’re accelerating inorganic discovery with machine learning because that’s something that funders and people who read papers are going to be more responsive to.”Buriak agrees that materials researchers have been quietly using machine learning for years, even if they didn’t call it by that name. Buriak points to projects like the Materials Genome Initiative, a $500 million collaboration between several federal agencies that started in 2011 to find and produce new materials faster. MGI collected and made accessible materials data to accelerate materials science, especially by computer.The materials genome concept—the idea that collecting and analyzing a large amount of data could lead to new insights—dates back only to 2002, but in 2016 researchers used it in one of the first demonstrations that machine learning could benefit materials research. The authors built a public database—which included results from failed reactions—and were able to predict vanadium selenite crystallization reactions more accurately than humans could (Nature 2016, DOI: 10.1038/nature17439).A computer beating humans at some tasks is one thing, but a common refrain from researchers who use machine learning is that computers can’t replace human intuition. Bobby G. Sumpter, a physical chemist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory who’s been working on computational methods since the 1980s, says there’s every reason to believe machine learning can interpolate large amounts of data and make predictions that may be too subtle or complex for human scientists. But to think that machine learning can make predictions far beyond the chemical space of a particular training data set is to ignore fundamental rules of statistics, Sumpter says.If this worked, we could, for example, predict a structure of a molecule from its observed properties. That’s not possible right now.Bert de Jong, a computational chemist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, says that what we now refer to as machine learning is mainly a tool for speeding up computations on large data sets. It’s not capable of extrapolating beyond the knowledge contained in data sets, understanding the physics of the molecules, and truly learning, he adds.Instead, many see machine learning as helping materials scientists by improving their experimentation. “Machine learning can aid significantly in analyzing and providing meaningful results,” Sumpter says.He says machine learning is demonstrably good at interpreting images and spectra of compounds and materials, particularly in finding signals among noise close to an instrument’s detection limit. He says it can also help guide experiments in real time. Because machine learning can assimilate and interpret huge amounts of data in milliseconds, AI can adjust inputs and parameters to optimize an experiment as it happens, particularly in a flow-type reactor setup.If it’s well built, machine learning doesn’t suffer from humans’ bias, and it’s more consistent. To many, that makes it a better fit for designing experiments as well. “Chemistry is messy and complicated,” Cronin says. “Machine learning can help design better experiments,” especially when the number of variables might overwhelm a human, like understanding solvent effects on a reaction.REACTION DISCOVERYThe first thing that comes to many chemists’ minds when they hear the terms “machine learning” and “hype” is retrosynthesis. Nearly since the day that Harvard University’s Elias J. Corey described his concept for strategizing a synthetic route to a target molecule by thinking about key bonds and building blocks, he and others have been working toward computer programs that can plan synthesis.“They claimed that for so long,” Sumpter says, “so everybody’s been like, yeah, sure.” Despite that past skepticism, Sumpter is among those who think machine learning may in fact put synthesis by computer in reach. But the way chemists working in this field talk about machine learning is more toned down than most might expect.“I see machine learning as enabling human abilities, not making humans unnecessary, but making humans more efficient in everything they do,” says Matt Toussant, senior vice president for product and content operations at CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society. ACS publishes C&EN.Toussant says CAS is introducing its retrosynthesis planner, called ChemPlanner, this fall. MilliporeSigma released Synthia (formerly Chematica), another prominent product in this space, in August.Both programs rely heavily on human experts who created the databases of rules that chemical transformations must follow, drawn from the literature and their own knowledge. Machine-learning algorithms let the programs navigate chemical space using these rules and suggest to the user possible ways to synthesize a target molecule.Bartosz Grzybowski of the Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology, Synthia’s creator, says machine learning is just one tool the software relies on. Synthia also uses molecular dynamics, quantum mechanics, and electronic properties to judge how favorable a transformation is or how stable an intermediate is along a synthesis route. Machine learning can’t do everything, Grzybowski says. “Some advanced aspects of organic chemistry require all these other tools. So what I’m advocating is be open, solve the problem, and don’t insist on a specific method.”Some chemists remain skeptical that these products will offer a significant advantage over the traditional way of planning synthesis, which typically involves a graduate student accessing a database through tools like Reaxys or SciFinder, another CAS product, reasoning out a path forward, and experimenting. Toussant says what chemists will care about is whether a machine-learning algorithm like ChemPlanner makes them more productive and allows them to make more discoveries.Grzybowski responds to the skepticism with his mantra: “Cook it.” Put the routes that Synthia predicts to the test in the lab and see whether the program can find a better route—or the same route faster—than a human using a database. He has published one paper doing just that (Chem 2018, DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2018.02.002), which showed that Synthia can find novel, efficient, experimentally valid routes to targets in just 15 or 20 minutes.09634-feature1-synthesis.jpgMachine-learning-based Synthia planned a synthetic route (right) to an ATR kinase inhibitor that took fewer steps but had a similar yield compared with a published route (left).If chemists think they need to use buzzwords like “machine learning” to attract more eyeballs or dollars, Grzybowski doesn’t blame them. “Impact factor is god,” he says. But he says once the hype of machine learning dies away, valuable tools will remain, as previous fads like combinatorial chemistry or genomics have demonstrated. Each of those had its own ride on the hype roller coaster, and while neither lived up to what some people promised, they both remain in use.Toussant believes we’re near peak hype in machine learning and about to fall into the valley of disillusionment. “But ultimately all technology recovers from the pit of despair,” he says. “I expect machine learning to do the same. I believe in its future.”HUMAN LEARNINGDespite their differences, the chemists that C&EN interviewed agree: Yes, machine learning is overhyped. No, it won’t cure cancer. Nonetheless, it’s a valuable tool that’s here to stay.How valuable is up for debate. But in order for chemists to get the most out of machine learning, another thing is clear. Chemists need to change their behavior. That starts with data.It’s little wonder that pharma and materials science—two areas of chemistry that have made dedicated efforts to create useful databases of chemical properties—appear to be furthest along in using machine learning. Getting clean, comprehensive data to build good training sets has been a problem in applying machine learning to organic synthesis. Information about successful reactions is scattered across journals in all kinds of formats and notations, and information about failed reactions is hidden in old lab notebooks.“The old rules still apply,” Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Sumpter says. “Garbage in, garbage out.” Machine learning does best when trained on a large amount of organized data, preferably including negative results. The University of Glasgow’s Cronin says chemists have to learn how to build databases and create descriptors for data so algorithms can learn.Chemists will also need basic coding skills. Javier Garcia Martinez, an inorganic chemist at the University of Alicante, says chemists’ training must change. “Every Ph.D. student knows NMR and X-ray diffraction,” he says. “The new tools will be machine learning and artificial intelligence.” For chemists who’ve completed their formal training, Garcia Martinez encourages them to educate themselves with free tools available online.Collaborations will also become increasingly important, many say. Expert organic chemists will pair up with computational chemists or computer scientists to find ways to apply machine learning to their research. Dahl says he’d love to have more chemists come to Google with their data and questions: “I’m happy to try working on it.”Even the fiercest machine-learning proponents don’t believe it can be useful for chemists without real effort on the molecular scientists’ part to learn new skills, change the way they think about data, and even ask questions differently. If they can, says Joshua Schrier, a computational chemist at Fordham University and Haverford College, “machine learning enables the ordinary chemist to have superpowers.”Whether that’s overhyping it depends on your perspective. For those chemists who work most closely with machine learning, the excitement they see in press releases and casual conversation can get tiresome. These experts have great faith that machine learning will have a real and lasting impact on chemistry, especially if more people are trained to use it. At the same time, some worry that this tool can’t possibly live up to the highest expectations and that disappointment might hurt progress.Cronin puts it this way: “Although I say machine learning is overhyped and annoying, I think it’s underused by chemists.”Chemical & Engineering NewsISSN 0009-2347Copyright © 2020 American Chemical SocietyYOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE...

120 Reasons Being an Entrepreneur Is AwesomeBy Brittney Helmrich, Business News Daily Staff WriterFebruary 29, 2016 02:10 pm EST22000MORECredit: bleakstar/ShutterstockIf you've ever thought seriously about starting your own business, you know it requires a lot of hard work and sacrifice. However, most entrepreneurs will tell you that it's worth it. Entrepreneurship comes with a lot of great perks and rewards — from being your own boss and making the rules, to having a more flexibility and the ability to work anywhere you want.Business News Daily asked 120 entrepreneurs why they love what they do, and their responses ranged from incredibly inspiring to painfully honest and even downright funny. Here's what they had to say.No. 1: "I love being an entrepreneur because I am able to set my own schedule around my family life. Being a busy mom of two, I have the flexibility to schedule clients around my children's sports, school schedules and doctor appointments." – Stacy Haynes, CEO and counseling psychologist, Little Hands Family ServicesNo. 2: "Being an entrepreneur gives you the opportunity to take a calculated risk on a passion." – Francesco Clark, founder, Clark's BotanicalsNo. 3: "The best part of being an entrepreneur is that I am constantly rediscovering myself. Every day, I rediscover my passion for what I'm pursuing, my strength in tough situations, and my resilience when there's an obstacle."– Alexandra Pierson, founder, springpopNo. 4: "I love owning my own business because I feel there is always something that I can do to improve. Whether it be writing a new blog post, scheduling social media, or reaching out to new organizations, there is always something to keep me busy." –Claire Coder, founder and CEO, Aunt FlowNo. 5: "Being an entrepreneur is great because you literally own your destiny.If you want to earn more money, work harder and it happens." – Natalie Bidnick Andreas, digital and content marketing strategistNo. 6: "The best part of being an entrepreneur is the ability to create something from nothing. I get to bring new programs and ideas to my clients and to hard- working professionals every day." – Kristi Daniels, founder, Thrive 9 to 5No. 7: "I get to travel wherever I want, hang out with whoever I meet, and take photos of whatever interests me, which is one of my biggest passions." – Caleb Beal, founder and owner, One Story RoadNo. 8: "Nothing pushes me to work harder and smarter than the responsibility of having my name on the door. Running a business — and being responsible for other people's well-being and income — gives me the motivation and discipline to be the hardest-working version of myself." – Natalie Zfat, social media influencerand co-founder, The Social Co.No. 9: "I think being an entrepreneur is great because the possibilities are endless. You can be as creative and innovative as you want to be and the results are the most rewarding." – Anneliece Velasco, owner, Fred Astaire Dance Studio of SmithtownNo. 10: "Being an entrepreneur allows me to create my own definition of success. I do not have to sit at a desk for a specific period of time, turn in X number of projects and hit specific goals, or make it into the President's club to be successful." – Danielle Tate, CEO, MissNowMrs.comNo. 11: "Being an entrepreneur is great because one can respond to opportunity quickly. In my previous corporate life, decision making could take so long that the opportunity actually vanished before all the parties could get together to make a decision to proceed." – Peter Pierce, founder and CEO, Hamptons Salt Co.No. 12: "The best part of being an entrepreneur is contributing something larger than yourself. Entrepreneurs solve problems and bring a product or service to the world that people need. Sure you have the opportunity to get paid well, but giving livelihood to others and crafting the world you want to see is way more fulfilling." – Matt Wilson, co-founder, Under30ExperiencesNo. 13: "My business is almost 100 percent online, so I also have the freedom to live in other countries as I work. It allows me to expand my mind, learn new languages, and experience the world in a way few others do." – Jill Loeffler, owner, DreamExploreInspire.comNo. 14: "One of the things I enjoy the most about being a founder is creating a culture that supports my values." –Jessica Greenwalt, founder, PixelkeetNo. 15: "Being an entrepreneur is great because you can let your freak flag fly. The mental release of all your wildest visions and creative expressions are yours to achieve." – David Farley, CEO, LuxiNo. 16: "At the end of the day, the best part of being an entrepreneur is that it forces me to become a better me. I am forced to learn, change, adapt, get tough, and innovate, and since no one in the world could be harder on me than me, I will continue to improve." – William Kehler, founder, Manhattan MoonshineNo. 17: "Being an entrepreneur is greatest when it fulfills that inner desire to prove yourself right. It’s the kind of satisfaction that only comes when you are growing at a remarkable pace and you have the gears in place to make it work right." – Cody Miles, creative director, BrandcaveNo. 18: "Being an entrepreneur has allowed me to create a career that didn’t even exist before I made it up." – Lisa Spector, co-founder, Through a Dog's EarNo. 19: "You are not waiting for a boss to notice your well-done work to give you a promotion or a raise. You earn it the moment you earn it; the reward is immediate." – Rebecca Bennett, founder, CityFitLANo. 20: "Since starting my brand a few months ago, the best thing I must admit about being an entrepreneur is the social joy that I get to meet and converse with so many great, take no bull crap, powerful women." – Crystal Etienne, founder and CEO, PantyPropNo. 21: "What I like best is that I feel like I'm actually doing something to make a difference. I'm really building something, really arranging a thing, rather than just pushing papers [and] digital files around for someone else." – Duke York, co-founder and director of finances, Punto SpaceNo. 22: "It's extremely rewarding to mentor and train new hires and then witness their development and growth to become leaders in the company." – Jordan Wan, founder and CEO, CloserIQNo. 23: "For me, it is a source of energy [and] pride and leaves me at the end of each day knowing I worked incredibly hard and feeling fulfilled." – Ron Perry, founder, egniteBIZNo. 24: "I am an introvert. I enjoy having privacy and interacting with people on my own terms. Being an entrepreneur got me out of office politicsand time-wasting efforts such as meetings and teleconferences." – Kristin Bales, owner, KJB Writing ServicesNo. 25: "I can decide my own hours and I can hire amazing people from all over to create the best team. I get to be the creator and see my business take shape and grow. What can be more exciting than that?" – Carina Tannenberg, owner, Bed of NailsNo. 26: "What I love most about having my own business is the ability to arrange my life around my own priorities, energy and preferred work rhythms." – Elene Cafasso, founder and president, EnerpaceNo. 27: "As a social entrepreneur and designer, I am fueled by the conviction that entrepreneurship and design can be a vehicle for social change." – Colleen Clines, co-founder and CEO, Anchal ProjectNo. 28: "I view entrepreneurship as a laboratory and my business ideas as the ingredients. I have the freedom to use my ingredients as I wish as long as everything goes well!" – Neerav Mehta, co-founder and CEO, Red CrackleNo. 29: "I never feel like I'm going to work. It doesn't feel like work because I'm doing exactly what I want to do, and I enjoy it." – Darci Upham, franchise owner and vacation specialist, CruiseOneNo. 30: "To me the best part is absorbing all the knowledge you can from every aspect of your business, getting mentors around you to help train you where you are lacking, and last but not least, watching your ideas blossom and take off without extremely long chains of commands." – Chris Folayan, CEO, MallforAfricaNo. 31: "The entrepreneur community has a certain energy. Personally, I found it to be absent entirely from corporate America, and we thrive on it daily today." – Mike Solow, CEO and co-founder, Idea HarvestNo. 32: "We've all heard the story about the lion at the zoo and his cousin in the wild. I'd rather be running for my food and risk not eating than having slabs of meat thrown at me while I sit in a 12-by-12 concrete pit." – Kyle Eschenroeder, co-founder, StartupBrosNo. 33: "We are special and unique in the animal kingdom because of our ability to see the future and then achieve it. What being an entrepreneur allows you to do is create the future you want." — Spencer Thompson, founder and CEO, SokanuNo. 34: "We can decide what our company perks are. Of course, we offer basics like vacation and health insurance. However, we also do fun things to reward our employees." – Shannon Stull Carrus, creative director and partner, Who Is CarrusNo. 35: "My kids see me fail and then pick up the pieces and try again — all good life lessons that teach perseverance and the power of determination." – Deborah Stallings Stumm, president and founder, Super Moms 360No. 36: "Starting my own business has been empowering, challenging and exciting all rolled into one. Once I got through all the difficulties, I really grew into my own skin and it felt great! I love owning my own business and seeing how much I can grow both personally and professionally." – Whitney Carpenter, owner, Billwood PropertiesNo. 37: "I love being an entrepreneur because of control. Control has a negative connotation, but to me, it's something beautiful and powerful." – Felena Hanson, founder, Hera HubNo. 38: "As an entrepreneur, you add value to society, as some product or service exists in the world because of you." – Mike Oeth, CEO, OnSipNo. 39: "The greatest reason to be an entrepreneur? The incredible fairness of it — there's no force more fair in the world than the marketplace of ideas. The live-and-die fairness of the market awakens something inside of you — passion, hunger, fear — that makes you feel more alive than you've ever felt before." – David Yang, co-founder and lead instructor, Full Stack AcademyNo. 40: "I can tell myself to go to hell and not worry about being fired." – MJ Pedone, founder and CEO, Indra Public RelationsNo. 41: "Becoming an entrepreneur has given me a unique and remarkable opportunity to reconnect with and assist people in the Philippines and also celebrate my Filipino culture." – Tessa Yutadco, founder and CEO, My Prime Skin CareNo. 42: "We, as humans, love new experiences but rarely can you experience a host of new things from inside your cubicle. This all changes when you are running the show. Starting your own business will ensure you'll always be facing new challenges and experiencing something new." – James Bregenzer, owner, Bregenzer GroupNo. 43: "When my boss told me to stay in my lane, I knew I had to do something else. The day I walked into my office and had the ability to grow my company was the day I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be." – Brittany Ringersen, CEO and founder, Lighthouse Recovery InstituteNo. 44: "The best part of being an entrepreneur is that you can get out of it exactly what you put in. The harder you work, the bigger the reward." – Elizabeth Henson, owner, Elizabeth Henson PhotosNo. 45: "The best part? Being able to say 'my company.'" – Brian Pfeiffer, creator and CEO, Design a TeaNo. 46: "By far what I enjoy the most about being an entrepreneur is the ability to interact with a wide range of companies and individuals and to learn from them." – Linda Pophal, owner, Strategic CommunicationsNo. 47: "I feel fulfilled when Fridays come along and I get to give my employees their paycheck. My business is a small business — fewer than 15 employees — so I know all my employees well and like talking to them about their work and mentoring them if/when they need it. Also, knowing that there are people that depend on me for their livelihood drives me to keep growing my business." – Priyanka Murthy, head designer and CEO, Arya EshaNo. 48: "One of the best parts of being an entrepreneur is that I can hire people to represent my company and myself, not some organization I'm working for. I have control over how I want my company to be branded." – Susan Baxter, president and CEO, Hire a WingWomanNo. 49: "I'm never bored, since I'm always working on making something better. It's not a job where you do the same thing for 30 years, then retire. I get to try hundreds of different directions — some good, some bad — and learn as I go." – Jim Belosic, CEO, ShortStackNo. 50: "As an employee, you are one ingredient in a recipe. You do not get to choose what gets cooked, how it is prepared or to whom it gets served. Additionally, your ingredient may be the one that will not make or break the recipe. As an entrepreneur, you have the freedom to design your own menu." – Karen Swim, owner, Words for HireNo. 51: "To me, one of the best things about being an entrepreneur is you're helping shape the future of the world. Whether it's a new consumer product, B2B service or a new medical device, what you do can have a profound impact on the lives of others." – Tim Segraves, co-founder, RevaluateNo. 52: "I love that I get to decide who I help and how I help them. My clients are people I've chosen because I personally identify with them, so the problems I'm solving are both interesting and enjoyable. And I get to be creative in how I solve them, which would be harder to do as an employee." – Matt Becker, founder, Mom and Dad MoneyNo. 53: "You have the opportunity to create an authentic, meaningful and sustainable corporate culture!" – Jill Butler, CEO, RedKey Realty [See Related Story: 5 Simple Scientific Ways to Improve Company Culture ]No. 54: "The best part of being an entrepreneur is getting to meet so many talented entrepreneurs, change-makers and passionate people, whether online or in person. If I didn't have to push myself to make my business succeed, I would have never stepped outside of my introvert comfort zone and made the great connections I have now." – Dana Rivera, owner, Dana Rivera FilmsNo. 55: "I find the best part of [entrepreneurship] is that it allows me the flexibility to attend events at my children's school during the day, as well as volunteer at their school when necessary. A 9-to-5 corporate job would not allow me to do that." – Angelica L. Cox, owner and operator, The WizorNo. 56: "The best part about being an entrepreneur is being able to work with like-minded individuals and make a dent in the universe." – Tiffany Mason, founder and CEO, Mason Coaching and ConsultingNo. 57: "It is a whole-brain role — I have needed to learn and think and make decisions that impact the whole business, so I am constantly learning and experimenting with new things. It is exponentially more interesting than a clearly defined corporate position." – David McKeegan, co-founder, Greenback Expat Tax ServicesNo. 58: "I get to wear T-shirts and bring my dog to the office. But actually, being an entrepreneur is great because I don't have to deal with any of the unnecessary rules, restrictions and bureaucracy of a large company. I just get to work on creating a company I love." – Ryan Farley, co-founder, LawnstarterNo. 59: "One part of being an entrepreneur that I probably enjoy a bit too much is media coverage. Even if I've spent all day tweaking ad campaigns or with tech support trying to fix a computer issue, that little hit of validation is enjoyable." – Steve Silberberg, head guide and owner, FitPackingNo. 60: "What I love most about being an entrepreneur is something I call the founder high. That's when a customer tells you that you created something that delighted them, excited them and made their lives better." – Adi Bittan, co-founder and CEO, OwnerListensNo. 61: "I'm not trapped in pursuing the same career for the rest of my working life. I can continue to build my writing and marketing businesses, but if I do decide that there's an opportunity to do something else, it's all open to explore." –Dan Thornton, founder, TheWayoftheWeb.netNo. 62: "I love the fascinating people I've been able to work with, around the country and around the world." –Shel Horowitz, owner, Green and ProfitableNo. 63: "I have the freedom to make decisions, my own decisions — right or wrong — without having to ask for permission or approval." –David Murdico, partner and creative director, Supercool Creative AgencyNo. 64: "I'll say that, by far, the best bit of the many benefits of working for myself is that I now possess "work pajamas!" – Liz Scully, CEO, Rethink CentralNo. 65: "I get to make a real impact in my community. It is very rewarding." – Jamie Broderick, founder, Network Now ConnectionsNo. 66: "I love that I have received a real-world MBA while doing what I am passionate about." –Emerson Taymor, founding partner, PhilosophieNo. 67: "I can be as creative and as risky as I want to be with my company. If you work for someone else, you are working for their passions and in their way. I want it my way. I want my story." – Melisa Tropeano LaTour, president and founder, The MTL Communications GroupNo. 68: "Long days and busy weeks are a given, but when you look back at what you've achieved, it's all had a purpose, and it's creating value. Not for your boss, or an absentee owner — you." – Travis Bennett, managing director, Studio DigitaNo. 69: "As a former CEO of a number of startups, I now help train the next generation of the same." – Thomas Frank, executive director, Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of MichiganNo. 70: "I think being an entrepreneur is absolutely the best route for women. I think this is true not just on a personal level, but as a society. The independence, confidence, character, financial sustainability, education and, importantly, sense of self that entrepreneurship provides has a true trickle-down effect." – Patty Kennedy, CEO, Kennedy SpencerNo. 71: "I love being able to enjoy the weekend every day. Yes, I love what I do, and my clients are amazing, but I can go shopping anytime I want, hang out with friends, go to movies, etc." – Monique Lewis, owner, Monique Lewis ManagementNo. 72: "For me, it really is the idea of being responsible for my own success or failure. I would much rather be at the mercy of the marketplace than any "superior" in the workplace." – Don Bishop, president, AffinigentNo. 73: "Sure, doing what you love is a plus to working for yourself, but what I enjoy most is being able to track my success. Sadly, we have been taught success is increasing numbers, never missing a day of work or landing a client. But my success is literally getting up each day with a game plan and making it work." – Vannessa Wade, owner, Connect The DotsNo. 74: "I once had a boss complain I was always conflating things — mixing unlike things together. I realized I wasn't cut out for the follow-the-rules corporate world. As an independent brand strategist, I can conflate to my heart's content, and it is called creative, strategic thinking." – Lisa Merriam, president, Merriam AssociatesNo. 75: "I quite literally cannot do anything else. I have a wicked learning disability, by U.S. educational standards. I cannot spell; I cannot file; I cannot do math. In fact, most low-level tasks are quite literally impossible for me, so working my way up the corporate ladder never quite worked out." – Beret Kirkeby, founder, Body Mechanics Orthopedic Massage TherapyNo. 76: "The thing I love most about being an entrepreneur is the opportunity to change people's lives." – Havona Madama, CEO and founder, KidKlassNo. 77: "The biggest thing that I love about being my own boss is the ability to dress or not to dress at work. Some days, I'm responding to customer inquiries, retail requests and marketing messages when I'm drinking my coffee and still in my underwear." – Lisa Cash Hanson, CEO, SnuggwuggNo. 78: "If you really enjoy what you are doing, if you know you are making a difference, if you understand the impact of your work, it is no longer work. It is more of a passion, a mission." – Louis Altman, founder and CEO, GlobaFone Satellite CommunicationsNo. 79: "Religiously hitting the gym every single day became a priority to me. I've never been in better shape in my life." – Lori Cheek, founder and CEO, Cheek'dNo. 80: "We see life as an adventure, and we wanted to go through this adventure together. Whatever the end will be, we will go through this journey hand in hand!" – Mariquel and Gaston Waingarten, co-founders, HickiesNo. 81: "The best part about owning my own business is being able to choose the people I surround myself with: employees, clients, suppliers. I choose people with positive energy whom I respect and trust. It makes the work a lot more fun." – Diana Castelnuovo-Tedesco, founder and managing partner, Fraiche PR and CommunicationsNo. 82: "I am constantly required to face my fears, get out of my comfort zone and push myself to meet new challenges." – Christy Cook, CEO, Teach MyNo. 83: "My love for being an entrepreneur has changed from a love of being my own boss to a love for the process of change. I now realize my job description can change every two to three months." – Peter Murphy Lewis, owner, La Bicicleta VerdeNo. 84: "I love taking a boat to work in the summer — where I live on an island and wear yoga pants as much as I like." – Robin Samora, founder and CEO, RobinSamora.comNo. 85: "When I started my business, my father said, 'I'm not a betting man, but if I was, I'd bet on you.' He was right. When you bet on yourself, you have the best odds to win." – Kelly Alvarez Vitale, president, Strategic PhilanthropyNo. 86: "The best part of being an entrepreneur is you don't have to be a genius. Simply study what other successful people have done, and implement it into your business — and then turn around and mentor others on the best practices that worked for you." – Clay Clark, CEO and founder, Thrive15No. 87: "I absolutely love what I do. I've loved it every day over the past 11 years. I love it when I get out of bed in the morning, and I love it Sunday night when I know a new week is upon us. Through the ups and downs, I love it every step of the way." –Robert Burko, president, Elite EmailNo. 88: "My purpose is to accumulate as many experiences in life as possible — whether by traveling to different places, meeting different people or participating in as many activities as I can. Entrepreneurship best facilitates this goal, allowing me to participate meaningfully in many stories all over the world." – Sam Prochazka, co-founder and CEO, NovosbedNo. 89: "I like to challenge the status quo and the confines of accepted thought." – Josh Davis, owner, Made in Fort WorthNo. 90: "When else in life do we have complete permission to say "yes" to whatever we imagine will be a good idea?" – Jennifer Martin, owner, Zest Business ConsultingNo. 91: "Being an entrepreneur is awesome for a lot of reasons. But I think the most important and overlooked reason is that it forces a person to develop parts of their personality that make them more well-rounded and a better person." – Ian Ippolito, founder and CEO, Exhedra SolutionsNo. 92: "One of the biggest reasons I love my job is because it's uniquely different every day." – Hanna Ashbaugh, owner, Hanna Lee StyleNo. 93: "I love being able to decorate the office how I like." – Emily Taffel, owner, Mugsy PRNo. 94: "I love being an entrepreneur because no boss would ever allow me to ride the razor edge of professionalism-meets-flippantly-fun in everything I do." – Danna Korn, CEO and co-founder, Sonic Boom WellnessNo. 95: "I got an education — on people, on life, on growing up, being a leader, being selfless and on being me instead of someone else." – Darren Magarro, president, The DSM GroupNo. 96: "I love being an entrepreneur because it allows me to have two families — my own and my company." – Jeff Tinsley, founder, MyLifeNo. 97: "I can't help but feel a thrill that we have been able to create so many opportunities for so many people. I cannot only relate to the challenges of being a woman and mother in the workplace, but I can also do something to make a career possible for other women." – Carrie Brinton, president, Elase Medical SpasNo. 98: "I have created an office environment where my team and I can stay healthy — we work standing, sitting or stretched out on the floor. We hang upside down on our inversion table. We bring healthy meals. And we always have good chocolate on hand." – Linda Hoopes, president, Resilience AllianceNo. 99: "I always win — or lose, depending on your perspective — the 'So, what do you do for work?' small-talk game. My response: 'I make boob, sweat and fart pads.'" – Kim Castellano, founder and chief inventor, Fashion First AidNo. 100: "In this latest venture, the other co-founder is my 22-year-old daughter. I now love entrepreneurship because I get to work side by side with my daughter and mentor her." – Noel Huelsenbeck, chief sustainability officer, PuraKai ClothingNo. 101: "Through it all, entrepreneurs push the envelope, as we are not bound by the way it's always been done. We see that as an opportunity to disrupt, redefine and invent." – Susan Aplin, co-founder and CEO, BambecoNo. 102: "I have learned to roll with the punches of owning a business. Pitfalls become learning experiences, and successes become new launching points for the company." – Nir Polak, CEO and co-founder, ExabeamNo. 103: "I love being an entrepreneur because I'm creating something from scratch each day." – Chris Piper, co-founder, zoomStandNo. 104: "I don't see it as business; I see it as a game. How many new appointments can I secure today? How many sales can I generate?" – Linda Parry, CEO, Product LaunchersNo. 105: "Seeing my children design business ideas and watching my entrepreneurial spirit continued through my daughters magnifies my love for entrepreneurship." – Catherine Whitcher, founder, IEP BootcampNo. 106: "I appreciate the freedom to think way outside the box and do things no one has done before." – Phil Masiello, founder and president, 800razors.comNo. 107: "I love the idea of owning my own business and doing whatever I want, when I want and how I want to do it." – Craig Wolfe, president, CelebriducksNo. 108: "There is a kind of living dangerously aspect of risking your own money and reputation that is somehow highly satisfying!" – Mark Stevens, CEO, MSCONo. 109: "As an entrepreneur, I love being able to break out of the old molds set by established companies." – Rebecca Posten, CEO, PrevaLeaf Inc.No. 110: "Entrepreneurs are people who look at the world around them, identify problems and feel the urge to correct them, to make things better. Being an entrepreneur is not really a choice. It's probably closer to a disease." – Itai Sadan, CEO and co-founder, DudaNo. 111: "It's the ability to bring something completely new into the world. I don't have any children, but I imagine it's a similar feeling — that thought that, had I not been here, this would have never happened." – Justin Nassiri, founder and CEO, StoryBoxNo. 112: "As an entrepreneur, there are no corners to hide in, no fall guys to take the blame and no bigwigs to take credit for your work. Every day that I get up to work, I know that whatever I do is going to make a difference to my company. You can't buy that kind of motivation." – Andrew Whitford, managing director, TrafficZoomNo. 113: "We get to be innovative. We get to experiment. We create what we believe in and then implement it. We get to disrupt the industry in a positive way." – Shaun Tuch, co-founder, Professor Egghead Science AcademyNo. 114: "I love being an entrepreneur — first and foremost, to set the best example for my children possible. I want them to know that life is tough and challenging, but if you work hard and focus, then the outcome can be better than you ever expected." – Nellie Akalp, CEO and founder, CorpNet.comNo. 115: "I like swearing and wearing superhero T-shirts, and being able to do that at work and not get into trouble makes my soul smile." – Maurice Buchanan, owner, UGO1 FitnessNo. 116: "The calm in the chaos is what I personally love about being an entrepreneur. It's a mental zone where love for what you do, mental strength and your will are put to the test and where achievements or success become significantly more gratifying." – David Salinas, CEO and co-founder, Digital SurgeonsNo. 117: "If you are resourceful, and most entrepreneurs are — you can figure anything out. The Internet's the limit." – Rachel Olsen, founder, Best Mom ProductsNo. 118: "What's the best thing about being an entrepreneur? The hustle, baby!" – Grant Cardone, founder, Cardone Training TechnologiesNo. 119: "I love being able to help other women who have experienced homelessness or deep poverty to become successful businesswomen." – Lia Grimanis, founder and CEO, UpWithWomen.orgNo. 120: "Why I love being an entrepreneur? I'm not smarter than my boss." – Sandy Arons, founder and president, Arons & Associates Divorce Planningi hope it would be help to make you happy now