Founder Mode Shouldn’t Be Just for Founders
Founders should seek out others at the company with the potential to be founders and nurture their careers
Fidji Simo is the CEO and chair of Instacart
Paul Graham’s essay on founder mode captured the imagination of Silicon Valley this weekend by clearly articulating the magic we witness in many founder-driven companies. As someone who spent a decade working under a generational founder at Meta Platforms and now sits on the board of two founder-led companies (Shopify and OpenAI), I wholeheartedly agree that we need to understand what makes founder mode so special.
However, assuming that only founders can bring this level of intensity, vision and attention to details to the table would be a big missed opportunity. Nonfounder CEOs, as well as executives in charge of important business units, should also operate in founder mode, and their boards should reward these behaviors.