If you spend time on X or Threads, where snarky memes rise and fall, you’ve probably seen posts referencing “founder mode” over the last few days, like this:
https://www.threads.net/@carnage4life/post/C_eaQAxyIcV
Or maybe this:
You may even have seen this parody about “goblin mode.”
The chatter ties to a recent blog post that Y Combinator founder and dispenser of startup wisdom Paul Graham wrote about how founders like Airbnb’s Brian Chesky often ignore conventional wisdom regarding running a company at scale. That conventional wisdom — hire great people and let them do their thing — actually often turns into “hire professional fakers and let them drive the company into the ground,” Graham says.
Of course, he can’t say exactly what founder mode looks like because every founder does it differently, but he hopes that it will someday be as widely taught as manager mode. In the meantime, the hot takes on his hot take continue.