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Founder Mode

paulgraham.com

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Re: Founder Mode

#501

Post by bongodongobob »

ldjkfkdsjnv wrote: post #225
Aurornis wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first exposure to big company management was, ironically, at a startup. They hired their C-level executives from big companies. Those executives hired VPs and extra layers of management who were also from big companies. Very quickly we had a deep org chart where ICs could be 5 steps removed from the CEO even though they hadn’t decided exactly what product we were going to build. Everything was done by committee in…

Honestly, the people that put in these processes are the smart ones. Useless as they are, they do climb the ladder, get good titles, and good pay.

You're right. People here will deny it, but who is smarter: someone who attends cushy meetings all week and gets paid millions, or someone who burns themselves out hacking away at code 80 hours a week making $200k a year?

Congrats, you are very smart and know how to manipulate symbols real good. Try cashing that check at the bank.

Re: Founder Mode

#502

Post by computerdork »

computerdork wrote: post #495
bongodongobob wrote: post #486

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What did they do that was so bad that it cost him 3 locations?

Am also wondering if part of the problem might have been timing. Did have 5 locations during the pandemic?

... although, having said that, the financing thing that another commentor mentioned I've read is often a problem of over expansion.

Re: Founder Mode

#503

Post by p1necone »

gregfjohnson wrote: post #446

I grew up seeing founder mode first-hand. My dad founded Celestron, and he operated just as Paul is describing. At my current company, I see the CEO doing the exact same thing, which gives me great hope. Huge contrast from my previous start-up, for which I have great anti-hope unfortunately. (Current company is Zap Surgical Systems, with Dr. John Adler as the founder.) I've seen John everywhere, all day every day. I'…

I think the general issue here is that you can't observe successful businesses or individuals and copy their processes to be successful, because their processes are largely a symptom of their competency, not the cause.

Re: Founder Mode

#505

Post by joehandzik »

narrator wrote: post #299

Jensen Huang of NVIDIA uses stochastic sampling instead of status reports[1]. Kind of sounds like the same thing. Dig deep stochastically into the organization. Also sounds like "management by walking around," which was the style at HP under Hewlett and Packard[2]. I think the reason professional managers dislike these methods is they lack technical understanding of what the business actually does and instead focus o…

I was gonna note how similar this looks to how Jensen operates - he also has something like 50 direct reports, in some ways removing the need for skip level interactions often.

Re: Founder Mode

#506

Post by danielmarkbruce »

fhdsgbbcaA wrote: post #448
danielmarkbruce wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But, he's right. I'd rather a C- college essay that is saying something right than an A+ that is very convincing bs. A decent number of well rated business books are the latter.

As far as I can tell he’s provided an empty vessel with a smart-sounding, but undefined term, and this entire thread is people projecting their beliefs into that vessel. Nearly none of these comments are grounded in his actual text.

Then don't believe it. It's not some water tight argument he's making, it's not "law of physics" right.

Re: Founder Mode

#507

Post by danielmarkbruce »

lnenad wrote: post #428
danielmarkbruce wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But, he's right. I'd rather a C- college essay that is saying something right than an A+ that is very convincing bs. A decent number of well rated business books are the latter.

It's only "right" because you echo his thoughts. If it were written properly with examples and proper reasoning it would entice those who don't share his opinion to consider their stance.

It's too messy a topic for "proper reasoning". Take is as a viewpoint, not a law of physics.

Re: Founder Mode

#509

Post by malfist »

gregfjohnson wrote: post #446

I grew up seeing founder mode first-hand. My dad founded Celestron, and he operated just as Paul is describing. At my current company, I see the CEO doing the exact same thing, which gives me great hope. Huge contrast from my previous start-up, for which I have great anti-hope unfortunately. (Current company is Zap Surgical Systems, with Dr. John Adler as the founder.) I've seen John everywhere, all day every day. I'…

Your Dad founded Celestron? That's crazy. I use an edgehd for all my astrophotography. It's a damn fine instrument.

Re: Founder Mode

#510

Post by baxtr »

I think this is a classical case of survivorship bias.

What about all those companies operating in founder mode that ended up being a disaster? What about all other companies that transitioned away from founder mode and worked even better afterwards? Both categories are conveniently neglected.

Take Apple for example.

Steve Jobs is mentioned 3 times in the essay. He seems to be the main prototype for a CEO in founder mode for pg.

Yet, in the book Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, Jobs is quoted as saying:

"I am very proud of the many products we have created, but the thing I am most proud of is creating the company that was able to create the products. I think of Apple as the most important work of my life."

This statement reflects Jobs' belief that the culture and company he built at Apple were his greatest achievements, as they allowed for continuous innovation long after any single product launch. And long after his death Apple is still thriving.

So is Apple still in founder mode with Jobs gone or is Apple in a different mode that pg hasn’t recognized?

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