If you spend any time on sarcastic meme-heavy platforms like X or Threads, you've probably seen the following posts in the past few days referencing “founder mode”:
https://www.threads.net/@carnage4life/post/C_eaQAxyIcV
Or it might look like this:
You may have seen this parody on “Goblin Mode.”
The chat ties in with a recent blog post by Y Combinator founder and startup wisdom imparter Paul Graham, who writes that founders like Airbnb's Brian Chesky often ignore the conventional wisdom about running a large company — that is, hire smart people and let them do their thing — which, Graham says, often translates into “hire some professional con artists and have them ruin the company” thinking.
Of course, he can't say exactly what Founder Mode is, because different founders do it differently. But he hopes that one day it will be as widely taught as Manager Mode. In the meantime, his hot takes on Hot Takes will continue.
It's called “Founder Mode” and it's about how to run a company as a founder and how it goes against traditional management practices. It's basically what I've been doing already, but Paul Graham came up with a cool name for it in his latest essay. Do you know who Paul Graham is? Y Combinator? pic.twitter.com/rMKo9iGk6P
— Sophie (@netcapgirl) September 2, 2024