For me it's about giving back. I read many answers to many questions that are very helpful to me. I take that information. So when I believe I may have information that could be beneficial to others I want to give back. Just that simple.

Ego stroking. When people vote up my answers it makes me feel better about myself.

Oh yeah - something about helping people too ;)

Because I like to keep my business "karma" balance in the positive. I mentor 1st-timers, I am active in community, I write a blog sharing best practices (LeanStartups.com), and recently started answering questions here. I strongly believe one should spend at least 10% of their time giving back.

It's an excuse to organize my thoughts on a variety of topics. It is also less commitment than writing a blog. Lastly, since I usually have more questions than answers, it is in my best interest to see the community flourish.

Basically, I enjoy helping people.

Answering these questions also hones my thinking, writing and organizational skills. Distilling a complex concept or situation into a couple of 100 words forces you to really understand what you are talking about.

The feedback is also valuable. Where else do you get direct feedback on how well you have helped people. That part is tremendously rewarding.

I joined answers.onstartups.com because I liked that I found answers to questions I had but did know where/who to ask. (Friends and family would not be interested in this stuff!) The answers are of great quality, many from experienced entrepreneurs. Most posts are encouraging and supportive which I believe is so important for someone starting up. I like that our hosts restrict spam. I started asking my own questions and I answered where I felt I could contribute.

THEN I got addicted to this site! (The creators of this platform are ingenious!) After posting questions or answers, I wanted to find out if I got votes. After I got a few votes, I wanted more votes. I also got badges. Then I wanted to collect badges…

I have no clue about the many IT questions but I answer what I can. I answer questions because I want to belong to this entrepreneurial community and it also feels great to help others out. I also remember what it’s like not knowing what to do and not having any one to bounce off ideas with.

I actually come to this site to ask on occasion, and to read answers to other people's questions. Then when I see a question that I know the answer to, or can provide value, I do so because that will encourage others to contribute as well (thereby benefiting me). So it's all about giving so that I can receive. Very selfish.

Being a one man mISV is a lonely business. Social conversation with other mISV and sharing the problems and solutions helps. Asking and answering questions clears the ideas.

Well, since you asked...

Enlightened self interest:

1. I run a startup for startups, http://startuptodo.com (a training/productivity community for startups and microISVs) - helping my current and prospective customers makes good sense.
2. I do a podcast for startups, the Startup Success Podcast (http://startuppodcast.wordpress.com/) - helping my current and prospective listeners makes good sense.
3. I write books for startups, the latest of which came out in July: The Web Startup Success Guide (http://www.amazon.com/Web-Startup-Success-Guide/dp/1430219858) - helping my current and prospective listeners makes good sense.
4. I'm also an [unpaid] Microsoft BizSpark Network Partner - getting startups signed up so they can use all of Microsoft's goodies and so that .NET developers can escape their cubicles and breath the air of freedom.
5. Finally, it's a value choice - I prefer to help, hang out with, support startup founders. I've done the corporate thing - writing software for big companies for 25 years. Meant far less to me than giving one startup a helping hand.

I think it is a way to add back to the community. I ask questions, and get help, and the least I can do is to see if some of my thoughts may help others out.

The more you giveth, the more you taketh!

It was my new years resolution to try to increase my signal to noise ratio of what I read online.

I realised I'd be spending whole days on Twitter and reading blog articles on business, and not really take much away from any of them, let alone apply any of it.

This site is the great antidote to that. Everything is distilled down to a question and answer, and I don't need to parse the whole article to work out what it is important.

There are some great posters on here and I'm taking a ton away from it. For that reason, I want to share my opinion and hopefully help the community grow and give back.

I have to admit, seeing that rep number go up is appealing as well. It shows that someone, somewhere, thought I had something useful to say!

Feel more connected when I read and answer to questions.
I am the single person in my startup and
I like to be part of bigger team.

This site is proving to be a great resource for the start up on which I am working. I am a firm believer in "as ye sow, so shall ye reap". It's the members who keep the community strong by contributing thoughtful answers. I want to make sure the community stays vibrant and valuable so it's in my self interest to contribute.

I enjoy leveraging my business experience to help others with their start up efforts and I am finding that I enjoy the positive reinforcement of the "up" votes for good answers.

Last, our country and our economy need jobs to be created now. Supporting start ups by answering questions to help other start up efforts strikes me a terrific way to help drive job growth.

Somehow it's fun, I don't know why :)

Well I am new to the forum and the reason I joined is because I have the experience regarding the issues faced by entrepreneurs, small businesses and home based businesses when it comes to setting up your business. I want to share my experience and knowledge so that they don't commit the mistakes that people have committed earlier.

All of the above are true for me too, except the one about being a Microsoft BizSpark Network Partner. But the main thing is that expertise is like muscle, the way to grow it is actually to use it. These kinds of forums help me pull my thoughts and experiences together, and find important insights to share. It's something I hope to become better at. Doing this in a re-active way (in comments) requires a less effort that composing original blog posts.

My hope is that I help someone out. We've all had different experiences - maybe I can bring in an angle on a topic that someone will find helpful. But the reason I keep doing it is more because my own mind becomes clearer the more I engage in this type of dialogue.

The fun, status-markers, procrastination value on my other tasks and all the rest factor into it all too, of course.