The buzziest buzz term in the tech world is suddenly “founder mode,” coined only days ago and fast propagating into business worldwide. Founder mode is a way of running a company—the way a founder would run it—as distinct from manager mode, the way it would be run by “merely a professional manager.” So says Paul Graham, a cofounder of the Y Combinator startup accelerator, who originated the terms in a recent essay. He disdains manager mode and finds founder mode far superior. So—is it?
Graham is well positioned to judge. Over the past 19 years, Y Combinator has helped to birth thousands of companies including Airbnb, DoorDash, Reddit, and Stripe. He was inspired to identify two modes of managing after hearing a recent speech by Airbnb cofounder Brian Chesky, who described his awful experience bringing in outside managers. The speech struck a chord with other founders in the audience. Graham’s distillation of their views:
