The past few days have been buzzing with discussions around the concept of “Founder Mode,” a term coined by Paul Graham, which seems to capture something that many successful founders and academics have known for years: leading a company as a founder is fundamentally different from running it as a professional manager.
I've never been to business school, but I've worked for a lot of "professional managers". I think the key issue isn't about "founder mode" or "manager mode", but whether things are being done because they make sense.
I've asked a lot of managers over the years why they promote certain practices when they added work without providing much apparent value. The overwhelming answer is "Well, it's just how it is done." I take this as they don't really know, but they see other people doing it so it feels like the safe thing to do. No one ever got fired for buying IBM and all.
In a way, many leaders are just following the crowd. That may work for a business in the short term, but strategic positions tend to deterioate because there's no real vision or innovation.
I've never been to business school, but I've worked for a lot of "professional managers". I think the key issue isn't about "founder mode" or "manager mode", but whether things are being done because they make sense.
I've asked a lot of managers over the years why they promote certain practices when they added work without providing much apparent value. The overwhelming answer is "Well, it's just how it is done." I take this as they don't really know, but they see other people doing it so it feels like the safe thing to do. No one ever got fired for buying IBM and all.
In a way, many leaders are just following the crowd. That may work for a business in the short term, but strategic positions tend to deterioate because there's no real vision or innovation.