I thought it was a great start to an idea. I think it went sideways once it decided founder mode could be studied and taught.
Teaching founder mode sounds as simple as teaching creativity or how to be an individual. Founders are most likely are made up of people divergent of social thinking in some way and have a non-verbal need inside trying to get out.
Founder mode is fed by an intense focus, desperation, and insight. Which are all difficult to teach.
The whole thing feels off to me. Isn't the VCs that try to stop Founder mode. I think SV has a slew of carcasses of companies that founder modeded to death.
I don’t think he’s suggesting we can teach how to be a good founder in general. Just that we can study and then teach the difference between managing a team as a founder vs general management practices
I could sort of see that but that is almost too much common sense. Be a supportive of your precious founder.
The other question I have been asking myself is regarding the SJobs retreats.
They definitely happened during the Macintosh era but were they used during the second era. My impression is that they created a toxicity. It makes sense that CEO of large organization will hear names through the grapevine and want to get direct input.
I see the founder to be idiosyncratic and there is alway tension be that a desire for consistent environment. I think a good founder is able to compartmentalize the idiosyncratic from the supportive resource mechanics were humans like consistency.
No doubt SJobs was in Founder mode when he had all the CNCs at NeXT painted black and distorting the machine's tolerances.
Teaching founder mode sounds as simple as teaching creativity or how to be an individual. Founders are most likely are made up of people divergent of social thinking in some way and have a non-verbal need inside trying to get out.
Founder mode is fed by an intense focus, desperation, and insight. Which are all difficult to teach.
The whole thing feels off to me. Isn't the VCs that try to stop Founder mode. I think SV has a slew of carcasses of companies that founder modeded to death.