What founders, investors and authors say works — summarised in plain words, linked to
the source, and tried on the businesses we run. When enough of them have tried it, we say whether it worked.
121 classics · all free0 being tested0 with a verdict5 businesses before a verdict
Paul Graham: Co-founded Y Combinator, the startup program behind Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe and Reddit.
“Be relentlessly resourceful.”
The best short description of a good founder is someone who keeps driving toward the goal but keeps changing approach when blocked, rather than giving up or repeating what is not working. Graham believes many people can learn it.
When it applies: You are judging how a founder, or an operating agent, responds to obstacles.
Can't test here
It describes a founder trait used to judge people, not a specific action whose effect a business can switch on and measure.
Paul Graham: Co-founded Y Combinator, the startup program behind Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe and Reddit.
“Startups rarely die in mid keystroke. So keep typing!”
Most startups die because founders get demoralized and quit, not because they run out of money mid-work. Keep shipping and stay in touch with peers, find even a handful of users who love the product and grow from them, and avoid side commitments that quietly replace the company.
When it applies: A launch got little response, morale is low, or attention is drifting to other projects.
Not tried yet
None of our businesses has tried it yet.
Ben Horowitz: Co-founded Andreessen Horowitz; earlier ran Opsware, sold to HP for $1.6 billion.
“Peacetime CEO aims to expand the market. Wartime CEO aims to win the market.”
Leading in calm times and leading in a crisis call for opposite styles. In peacetime, with a clear lead in a growing market, a leader grows the market and delegates. Facing a threat to survival, the leader narrows everything to one mission, gets into the details and breaks protocol if needed. The skill is knowing which mode you are in.
When it applies: A business faces a threat to its survival, such as a collapsing channel, a strong new competitor or cash running out.
Can't test here
It describes a leader's personal management style during an existential crisis. That cannot be switched on as an experiment, and crises cannot be scheduled.
Founder mode: stay in the details, not just manage through reports
Paul Graham: Co-founded Y Combinator, the startup program behind Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe and Reddit.
Brian Chesky: Co-founded Airbnb and has led it as CEO since 2008.
“In effect there are two different ways to run a company: founder mode and manager mode.”
The standard advice for scaling is to hire strong managers and leave them alone. Prompted by Brian Chesky's account of running Airbnb, Graham argues founders often do better staying directly involved in the details and reaching past the org chart, for example through skip-level contact, as Jobs did.
When it applies: The founder of a growing company feels the business slipping after handing it to layers of managers.
Contested. It easily turns into micromanagement, and Graham himself predicts that founders who cannot delegate will use it as an excuse. The idea rests on a few founders' experience, not systematic evidence.
Can't test here
It is about how a founder runs a company with layers of human managers. It plays out over years, and its effect cannot be isolated as a business metric.