In my experience and observation, there are very few people that are operating on a purely benevolent or philanthropic basis, particularly in the business world, and particularly when they are still building their ventures/careers.  While this may be upsetting to some, don’t let it bother you, rather factor it into your decisions and your approach to situations.  Use it to your advantage.  Make sure that when you are trying to persuade someone to do something, you don’t appeal to them based on the fact that you are a good person and therefore they should help you or work with you.  Rather, you must paint your proposal in terms that make it clear to them that helping you will (ultimately perhaps) be very much to their advantage.  This is a cardinal rule – you must always paint your “pitches” in terms that the recipient can understand and will be motivated by – in terms that highlight the benefits to them – don’t expect it to happen automatically because you have pretty graphics, or because you’re a “nice person”.  Appeal to peoples’ selfish motives.  You will obtain much better results that way.