Founder Mode
Earlier this month, Paul Graham,the co-founder of Y Combinator wrote in his blog about a talk that was given at an event by Brian Chesky, the CEO of AirBnB. It was the idea that, in summary, Founder Mode was far superior than Manager Mode when building and scaling an early stage business. Founder Mode is when the Founder wears multiple hats, and is an integral part of every aspect and decision making of the business, where Manager Mode is where the Founder hires smart people and allows them to manage their departments. A more hands off style of being a Founder.
Paul Graham, in his blog contemplated and concluded the following:
‘The audience at this event included a lot of the most successful founders we've funded, and one after another said that the same thing had happened to them. They'd been given the same advice about how to run their companies as they grew, but instead of helping their companies, it had damaged them.
Why was everyone telling these founders the wrong thing? That was the big mystery to me. And after mulling it over for a bit I figured out the answer: what they were being told was how to run a company you hadn't founded — how to run a company if you're merely a professional manager. But this m.o. is so much less effective that to founders it feels broken. There are things founders can do that managers can't, and not doing them feels wrong to founders, because it is.’
Pitch Deck chimed in the topic and provided data that suggests that:
‘In each of the past five years, VC-backed companies led by a founder grew in value significantly faster than companies led by non-founders, our analysis shows. This year, the relative velocity of value creation for founder-CEOs was 22.4%, versus 4.7% for non-founder CEOs’
I have a deep reverence for founders building brands in this day in age. It takes grit and perseverance to realize your big vision and move the needle forward to create it into a real business. Whether a founder decides to fundraise or not, I believe founders NEED to operate in Founder Mode to get their business off the ground, scale, and become profitable.
Along the way, founders who have reached a certain threshold are aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and at that point, may hire accordingly to propel their business forward. This is not something that is decided on quickly. It requires asking a lot of hard questions, facing your fears, deep contemplation, and projecting a financial model to be able to OBJECTIVELY decide when and for what you should bring someone on.
At the core, no matter what, we have seen time and time again, the founder’s imprint and energetic DNA is vital to ensure a brand and company’s success.
We have seen this recently in founders who have bought back their businesses. Cassandra Grey, Founder of Violet Grey, Mary Ruth Organics, Onda Beauty, Costa Brazil, and the most visible in the beauty industry, Beauty Counter, yet, we are not sure what will transpire next.
Stronger than before operationally, but not to risk losing their brand equity.
In beauty and wellness, because it is deeply personal, and purchases are emotional, founders need to have their energetic imprint on every aspect and touchpoint of their business. This is the one thing that sets brands apart in an over saturated market, where we are currently in a transitional period of the industry. A founder's personal story, mission, values, and vision remains with the founder and can’t be outsourced. Managers can follow, lead with heart, but to entirely embody the founder’s voice, tone, energy, passion, and drive to reach their big vision—my bet will always be on the founder.
Thus, when a founder time and time again, I see this all too often, outsources too early, what happens is they relinquish their energetic spark in that aspect of the business. Brand equity plateaus and flattens. Messaging is diluted and the brand and its products becomes another sku in the universe of beauty and wellness.
Operating in Founder’s Mode may be difficult…as the old adage goes, ‘if it were easy, everyone would be doing it….’
And as I quote, Mr. Beast - the most viral content creator on YouTube,
‘Consultants are literally cheat codes. Need to make the world’s largest slice of cake? Start off by calling the person who made the previous world's largest slice of cake lol. He’s already done countless tests and can save you weeks worth of work. I really want to drill this point home because I’m a massive believer in consultants….Consultants are a gift from god, please take advantage of them. In every single freakin’ task assigned to you, always always always ask yourself first if you can find a consultant to help you’
And that is why we exist. To make your life easier. To give you space to create. To do what you become a founder to do, bring to life your magical products, to inspire, to elevate consciousness, to leave the world a better place.
At the end of the day, you didn’t become a founder to do the boring stuff…leave that to us.
Connect with us here. We are here to serve.
To your success xx
Photographer: Helmut Newton