Link: Founder Mode

Brian Chesky's talk at YC last week left a lasting impact on everyone who attended. Most founders called it the best they'd ever heard, and even Ron Conway forgot to take notes, a first in his life.

The central theme of Brian's talk was the flawed conventional wisdom on scaling companies. He shared how following the standard advice nearly led to disaster for Airbnb, forcing him to find a better approach by studying Steve Jobs.

Many successful founders in the audience echoed this experience. They had received similar advice, only to find it harmful rather than helpful as their companies grew.

After some thought, I realized the advice was meant for professional managers, not founders. Founders have unique instincts that professional managers lack, making this advice feel broken and unnatural to them.

In essence, there are two ways to run a company: founder mode and manager mode. We’ve assumed scaling a startup means switching to manager mode, but the dismay of founders and their successful escape attempts suggest otherwise.

We still know little about founder mode, but we do know it will break traditional principles. Once understood, it will likely prove to be far more effective than manager mode, as individual founders have already begun to demonstrate. #

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Yoooo, this is a quick note on a link that made me go, WTF? Find all past links here.