# Notes on 'Founder Mode'

Source: https://www.workingtheorys.com/p/on-founder-mode?action=share&isFreemail=true&post_id=148380676&publication_id=22717&r=6d366&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjoxMDY4ODMzNCwicG9zdF9pZCI6MTQ4MzgwNjc2LCJpYXQiOjE3MjUyNDE5MzEsImV4cCI6MTcyNzgzMzkzMSwiaXNzIjoicHViLTIyNzE3Iiwic3ViIjoicG9zdC1yZWFjdGlvbiJ9.G8aHztSTmeaPP45et-lpHzlh6DvhPxqiytdVm4QxCLc&triedRedirect=true&triggerShare=true
Kiwi News: https://news.kiwistand.com/stories/Notes-on-Founder-Mode?index=0x66d6b922fbc704b98c12f06932bf42f9b5588d2df6649efc4811294dc75cbb0e227349cd
Submitted by naomiii.eth on 2024-09-03 UTC, 4 upvotes, 0 comments

## Summary

Paul Graham's essay "Founder Mode" contrasts two ways of running a scaling company: founder mode, where founders stay directly involved and keep a tight grip, and management mode, which classically advises hiring good people and letting them do their jobs. Graham argues that founders pushed into management mode as they scale get bad outcomes, a lesson Airbnb's Brian Chesky learned the hard way. The commenter agrees founders should act like founders but considers Graham's objections to management mode, such as to delegation, overfitted, and says founder mode is more feasible given that companies now accomplish more with fewer resources.

## Article

You’ve probably seen, if not already read, Paul Graham’s new essay: Founder Mode.

The gist? There are two ways to run a company as it scales: in “founder mode” or in “management mode.” Founder mode is about staying directly involved, keeping a tight grip and doing things your way even as a startup grows. Management mode, on the other hand, classically preaches to “hire good people and let them do their jobs,” among other things. According to Graham, when founders are gaslit into adopting management mode as they scale, it leads to bad outcomes—a lesson Airbnb’s Brian Chesky learned the hard way.

I’m all about founder’s acting like founders, but I think the specific gripes against management mode, e.g. delegation, are overfitted. I don’t think things like “being in the details” can be monopolized by founder mode either. And with the way companies are being built now, with less resources able to accomplish more, ‘founder mode’ is just more feasible, regardless of whether it should dominate…