Founder Mode vs. Manager Mode: Insights from Calgary Founders 👩🏫
We asked Calgary founders what they thought about Founder Mode, the answers may surprise you!
On September 12th, Tech Thursday co-hosted an event with Thin Air Labs for the launch of Season 2 of their podcast ‘The Founder Mindset’. The event had 3 founders who will appear on Season 2:
Nic Beique, Founder & CEO at Helcim
Megan Leslie, CEO and Co-Founder at NanoTess
Dr. William Cherniak, CEO and Co-Founder at Rocket Doctor
Moderated by: Leah Sarich, Head of Story at Thin Air Labs
During the Q&A, the question was asked “What do you think of Paul Graham’s article ‘Founders Mode’?”
A recap of Founder Mode
Earlier in September, Paul Graham (Co-Founder of Y Combinator) published an article to his blog titled ‘Founder Mode’. The article took the tech world by storm.
The essence of the blog post is that founders are often told when they’re scaling that they should “hire good people and give them room to do their jobs” – this is what’s dubbed Manager Mode. Paul argues that many Y Combinator companies were given this same advice, but the effects were disastrous.
The reason Manager Mode falls short, Paul argues, is that it is advice for non-founder CEOs. For a company you started, hiring the right people, telling them what do to, and it’s up to them to figured out how to do it might not be the most efficient or successful method. There’s no clear definition of Founder Mode mode in Paul’s blog post, as he says we know so little about it, there are no business books on the topic. What we do know is that Founder Mode involves founders being hands-on at every level, not on engaging with the company via their direct reports.
For example, Steve Jobs used to hold a retreat for the 100 most important people at Apple, not the 100 people who were the highest on the Org chart. It’s a practice that Paul Graham says is very ‘Founder Mode’ though very few (if any) other companies have implemented.
Calgary Founder's Take
When the speakers at the September 12th Tech Thursday were asked about Founder Mode, the answers surprised me. Here’s my perspective of the response from founders.
From Left, Leah Sarich, Dr, William Cherniak, Megan Leslie, and Nic Beique
Episodes of The Founder Mindset are release every 2nd Tuesday. Today, Nic Beique’s episode was released. You can listen to it here, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Unsurprisingly, some of the panelists agreed with the premise of the article. However, more interestingly, it was brought up that Founder Mode created an excuse for bad behaviour on behalf of the founder. The essence of the argument was that simply starting a company doesn’t give you the power to interject on every decision being made, nor get in the way of talented people from doing their job.
The claim that traditional management practices are inherently flawed for founders suggests that there is something uniquely superior about the way founders run companies. A point of view that can often lead to micromanagement, overreach, and stifling of the talent founders themselves hire. This can quickly turn into a toxic work environment where no one feels trusted or empowered, and any pushback is seen as being "gaslight" by employees.
Founders should maintain their vision and passion, but what is the balancing point between a vision for the company and realizing your leadership style has to evolve as your company grows? Do we need founder mode, or do founders need to be better at effective delegation? Is Founder Mode a justification for over-control and a resistance to change, or is it essential for the growth of a company?
All questions I leave you with. What do you think?