Value propositions battling it out here. I don't know if the OP is an entrepreneur or not, but bartering time and skills for an ego payoff is not healthy. I could never fully appreciate this about talented folks sacrificing their time with families to do open source projects (if it was not for the learning experience). I can see how an ego trip reason quickly turns into the sort of burnout he talks of.

If he's an entrepreneur then it's even more dire than burnout. His business is most likely in trouble too.

Entrepreneurs have to walk a fine line between being local optimisers or opportunity creators. Unfortunately, many technical entrepreneurs find it comforting to hunker down and code within strict given parameters - often ignoring the bigger picture with questions like "is it worth it?". As long as geeks are given a problem to solve, they remain focused. This is deadly if you're the geek running your own business.

Heck, even if you're not an entrepreneur, it's always good to ask the "is it worth it" questions regularly.