Written by Lidia Vijga
After ten years in B2B sales and marketing, and now as the co-founder of DeckLinks and BriefBid, I’ve come to realize something profound about what we call “Founder Mode.” It’s not what most people think it is, and today, I want to share my unfiltered perspective on what it truly means to operate as a founder.
Table of Contents
- The Essence of Founder Mode
- Founder Mode vs Manager Mode
- Founder Mode: A Personal Perspective
- Practical Steps for Activating Founder Mode
- The Dark Side of Founder Mode: A Raw and Honest Perspective
- The Balance Point Between Founder Mode and Managed Mode
- The Path Forward: Embracing a New Kind of Founder Mode
The Essence of Founder Mode
At its core, Founder Mode is about maintaining the passion, drive, and hands-on approach that characterized the early days of your startup, even as your company grows and faces new challenges. It’s about resisting the urge to become detached from the day-to-day operations of your business and instead staying deeply connected to your customers, your product, and your team.
In my experience working with various B2B companies, I’ve seen how easy it is for founders to lose touch with the pulse of their business as it scales. They hire executives, build layers of management, and delegate tasks to their direct reports. Conventional advice often sounds great, encouraging founders to step back and focus on the bigger picture, but this can result in them becoming disconnected from their business. This disconnection can be subtle at first, but its effects can be devastating in the long run as founders become removed from the very things that made their company successful in the first place.
Founder Mode vs Manager Mode
The fundamental difference between these modes isn’t about skills or responsibilities – it’s about ownership. In manager mode, you’re executing someone else’s vision, much like a professional manager would. In founder mode, you’re bringing your own vision to life while carrying the weight of everyone who believes in it.
This isn’t to say one mode is better than the other. They serve different purposes and require different mindsets. The key is recognizing which mode you’re in and adapting accordingly. Sometimes, the best founders know when to switch into manager mode, and the best managers understand when to embrace aspects of founder mode.
The Time Horizon Shift
Perhaps the most profound difference I’ve noticed is how these modes view time differently. Manager mode operates within quarterly or annual cycles, focusing on hitting predetermined metrics. Founder mode requires simultaneous operation across multiple time horizons – making decisions today that might not bear fruit for years. Business schools often promote a managerial style that may not suit founders, suggesting that conventional wisdom about management needs to shift to recognize the unique strengths of founders who typically run companies very differently than professional managers. The advice to ‘hire professional fakers’ often leads to unqualified individuals taking charge and harming the organization.
When we were developing our video narration feature at DeckLinks, I had to balance immediate market demands with our long-term vision for transforming how people communicate through documents. This isn’t something you typically deal with in manager mode, where goals are usually clearly defined and timebound.
The Learning Curve
Manager mode typically involves mastering a specific domain. Founder mode requires constant learning across all domains. One day you’re deep in product development, the next you’re handling investor relations (fundraising isn’t fun at all), and the next you’re working on company culture making your team happier. Always having to learn new things can be really tiring, but it’s also exciting and rewarding.
If you're not going this hard, you're not in Founder Mode pic.twitter.com/Piq4cxwTht
— VCs Congratulating Themselves 👏👏👏 (@VCBrags) September 22, 2024
The Innovation Approach
Managers typically innovate within boundaries – improving existing processes or products. In founder mode, you’re often questioning the boundaries themselves. Are we solving the right problem? Should we even be in this market? These are questions that rarely come up in manager mode. Paul Graham often emphasizes the importance of questioning boundaries in founder mode, encouraging founders to rethink the fundamental assumptions of their business.
I experienced this shift most dramatically when building BYVI. As a manager, I would have focused on optimizing existing content formats. Instead, as a founder, I found myself questioning the fundamental ways founders share and learn from each other’s experiences.
The People Dynamic
In manager mode, your relationship with your team is clearly defined by organizational structure. But founder mode requires a more nuanced approach. You need to be both accessible and authoritative, visionary and practical, leader and team member. Founders possess a unique moral authority that allows them to manage their organizations differently, as they are seen as irreplaceable and are presumed to have a deeper understanding of the company’s vision and values.
The Relationship with Risk
In manager mode, risk management typically means minimizing potential downsides within predefined parameters. You’re playing someone else’s game with someone else’s rules. But in founder mode, you’re writing the rulebook while playing the game.
At DeckLinks, we faced a crucial decision about our platform’s direction that perfectly illustrated this difference. As a manager, I would have chosen the safer path with more predictable outcomes, potentially driving the company into the ground due to a lack of innovation and adaptability. Instead, in founder mode, I found myself embracing calculated risks that could reshape our entire market approach. The key difference wasn’t in the decision-making process – it was in the ownership of consequences.
Founder Mode: A Personal Perspective
I remember sitting in my home office in Toronto during the early days of DeckLinks, staring at my computer screen at 2 AM, when it hit me. The skills that made me successful in my previous roles weren’t enough anymore. I needed to develop a completely new operating system for my brain.
Here’s what I’ve learned about true founder mode, and it might surprise you. Ideal management philosophies often sound great in theory, except in practice, judging by the harsh realities founders face when applying those theories.
The Mindset Shift That Changes Everything
The biggest revelation came to me during a crucial client meeting for DeckLinks. We were presenting our video-enhanced PDF solution, and instead of sticking to our prepared pitch, I found myself completely reimagining our product based on the client’s unique challenges. That’s when I realized: founder mode isn’t about following a playbook – it’s about being present enough to spot opportunities and brave enough to pivot in real-time.
This is something I’ve noticed while building BYVI, our startup publication. Every founder I’ve interviewed has shared a similar experience. It’s not about working harder (though you will); it’s about developing a new way of processing reality.
The Human Side of Founder Mode
Through my work at DeckLinks, where we focus on making PDFs more human with video narrations, I’ve learned that the most powerful aspect of founder mode is actually its human element. Many think it’s about becoming some kind of superhuman decision-making machine, but I’ve found the opposite to be true.
The real power comes from embracing your humanity. When I started showing more of my authentic self – sharing our challenges openly with our team, admitting when I didn’t have all the answers – our company began growing faster. This aligns perfectly with what I’ve always believed: teams that show their human side grow companies much faster. Unlike professional fakers, who often lead to poor performance by relying on conventional management practices, being genuine and hands-on fosters a more effective and cohesive team.
The Daily Reality of Founder Mode
Let me walk you through what founder mode actually looks like in practice, based on my experience running multiple companies. It’s not about maintaining a perfect schedule or never making mistakes. Instead, it’s about developing a new relationship with uncertainty and decision-making.
Yesterday, for instance, I had to make three major decisions before my morning coffee: a potential partnership opportunity that needed immediate attention, a team conflict that couldn’t wait, and a product feature that wasn’t working as intended. In my previous roles, I would have waited for more data or sought approval. But in founder mode, you get used to making choices even when you don’t have all the answers, while still trying to be understanding and kind to everyone involved.
The Hidden Challenges
One thing I’ve learned through my experience is that founder mode can be incredibly isolating if you let it be. There’s a tendency to feel like you need to have all the answers, to be the perfect leader, to never show weakness. But that’s not just unrealistic – it’s counterproductive.
I remember a particularly challenging period when we were pivoting our product strategy. I was trying to maintain this image of the all-knowing founder, and it was exhausting. It wasn’t until I opened up to our team about my uncertainties that we found our best solutions. This vulnerability, which many might see as a weakness, became our greatest strength.
The Power of Empathy in Problem-Solving
Through my experience at DeckLinks, I’ve discovered that founder mode isn’t just about business decisions – it’s about understanding people deeply. When we were developing our video narration feature, it wasn’t just market research that guided us. It was the countless conversations with clients who felt frustrated with impersonal PDF documents. This empathetic approach to problem-solving is what I believe sets successful founders apart and is crucial to how founders run companies.
Most founders get caught up in what I call the “automation trap” – trying to systematize everything at the expense of human connection. But here’s what I’ve learned: the most powerful systems are those that enhance human talent rather than replace it. This philosophy has been central to the companies we’ve built.
The Energy Equation Nobody Talks About
Let me share something personal about founder mode that took me years to understand. Your energy management becomes absolutely crucial, but not in the way most people think. It’s not about working 20-hour days (though sometimes you might). It’s about understanding your unique energy patterns and leveraging them effectively over the years.
During my time building BYVI, I discovered that my best strategic thinking happens in the morning, while my best creative work comes in the late evening (2 hours before bedtime). Instead of fighting this pattern, I learned to work with it. I schedule my most important strategic decisions for my morning sessions and save creative tasks like content creation and brainstorming for later in the evening.
The Evolution of Decision-Making
As your company grows, your relationship with decision-making must evolve. When we were scaling BriefBid, I noticed something interesting: the decisions didn’t necessarily get bigger, but they became more nuanced. Instead of making rapid-fire decisions about everything, I learned to identify which decisions truly needed my founder’s perspective and which could be entrusted to our capable team. Unlike professional managers, who are trained to delegate and avoid micromanagement, founders often stay more hands-on and involved, effectively navigating their organizations in ways that professional managers might struggle to do.
This isn’t about stepping back – it’s about stepping up to a different level of leadership. It’s about creating an environment where your team can make excellent decisions while you focus on the areas where your founder’s insight is truly irreplaceable.
Practical Steps for Activating Founder Mode
Silicon Valley is known for its unique managerial styles in founder-led businesses. But let me share some concrete ways to develop your founder mode, based on my experience.
The Intentional Morning Ritual
Start your day with intention, not reaction. I spend the first 30 minutes of each day thinking about what we’re building, not just what needs to be done. This subtle shift makes a massive difference in how you approach challenges.
Let me break down exactly how I structure those crucial first 30 minutes of my day. I learned this the hard way after months of starting my days reactively, jumping straight into emails and Slack messages. Now, my morning ritual looks like this:
- First 10 minutes: I sit with my coffee and my notebook (yes, an actual paper notebook – I find it helps me think more clearly) and write down one sentence about the future we’re building. For DeckLinks, it might be something like “Today we’re one step closer to making document sharing genuinely human.” This anchors everything else.
- Next 10 minutes: I review our north star metrics – not to stress about numbers, but to connect them to real human impact. How many teams are communicating better because of our tools? What feedback did we receive yesterday?
- Final 10 minutes: I outline three “founder-level moves” I can make today. These aren’t task-list items; they’re strategic actions that only I, as a founder, can take to move us forward.
Empathetic Innovation
When I talk about empathetic innovation, I’m referring to a specific approach we’ve practiced at DeckLinks. When facing decisions, I don’t just ask what’s best for the business – I ask what’s best for our users, our team, and our long-term vision. This holistic approach has helped us make better decisions consistently. Here’s how it works in practice:
- User Empathy: Before making any product decision, I spend time reading through actual user conversations. Not just analytics or feedback forms, but real discussions with our users. Recently, this led us to completely rethink our video narration feature based on how people were actually using it, not how we thought they should use it.
- Team Empathy: Every major decision gets what I call a “team impact assessment.” How will this affect our developers’ work-life balance? Will our customer success team have the resources they need? This isn’t just about being nice – it’s about building sustainable growth.
- Vision Alignment: We maintain a living document called our “Vision Journal” where we regularly update our long-term aspirations based on what we’re learning. This helps ensure our empathetic decisions don’t just feel good in the moment but actually contribute to our larger goals.
The Decision-Making Framework
Develop your own decision-making framework. Mine involves asking three questions: Does this align with our vision? Can we execute it effectively? Will it matter in three years?
Vision Alignment Check:
- Does this move us closer to our core mission?
- Will this help us make business communications more human?
- Does this strengthen our unique position in the market?
Execution Reality Check:
- Do we have the right team in place?
- What resources would we need to redirect?
- What’s the minimum viable version we could test?
Three-Year Impact Assessment:
- How will this decision compound over time?
- What doors will this open or close?
- Will we be proud of this decision in three years?
The Feedback Loop
Perhaps most importantly, I’ve learned to create strong feedback loops that help refine my founder mode:
- Monthly Reflection Sessions: I document what’s working and what isn’t in my founder approach. This isn’t about the business metrics – it’s about how effectively I’m operating as a founder.
- Peer Reviews: I maintain a small circle of other founders who provide honest feedback on my decision-making and leadership style. This external perspective is invaluable.
- Team Transparency: I regularly share my founder mode practices with our team and encourage their input. Some of our best operational improvements have come from team members helping me see better ways to lead.
The Dark Side of Founder Mode: A Raw and Honest Perspective
Let me share something deeply personal about founder mode that I wish someone had told me when I started DeckLinks and BriefBid. There’s a shadow side to this journey that we need to talk about openly. Successful founders like Steve Jobs faced unique challenges in their hands-on approach and direct engagement with their teams, which often differ from traditional management styles.
The Loneliness of Leadership
This isolation isn’t just emotional – it’s functional. There are thoughts and fears you simply can’t share widely without potentially destabilizing your team’s confidence. I’ve learned to build what I call my “founder’s sanctuary” – a small circle of other founders who understand this unique pressure. We meet monthly, not to network or pitch, but to share our raw, unfiltered experiences.
The Myth of Founder Work-Life Balance
I’ve learned that traditional work-life balance is often a fantasy in the early stages of building a company. Your startup becomes your life – not because you’re hustling 24/7, but because it lives in your mind rent-free. You’ll find yourself solving product problems while brushing your teeth, drafting emails in your dreams, and getting your best strategic insights during family dinners. I remember missing my best friend’s wedding because we were in the middle of a crucial product launch. The hard truth? Your company doesn’t care about your weekend plans or vacation days.
Founders have NO Balance: pic.twitter.com/HkpjOxWHYX
— Founder Mode (@Founder_Mode_) October 26, 2024
The Perfectionism Trap
Let me tell you about my biggest struggle with founder mode. At DeckLinks, we’re all about making business communications more human, yet I found myself sometimes slipping into an almost robotic state of perfectionism. The irony wasn’t lost on me – I was becoming less human while trying to make business more human.
I hit a breaking point during our fundraising preparation. I was trying to be the perfect founder, the perfect leader, the perfect strategist. It nearly broke me. That’s when I realized: founder mode isn’t about perfection – it’s about authentic leadership through imperfection.
The Cost of Constant Vision
Here’s something we don’t talk about enough: maintaining a compelling vision is exhausting. While everyone else can have occasional doubts or off days, founders need to be the constant carriers of the company’s vision. This perpetual optimism tax is real, and it takes a toll.
I’ve learned to dedicate time where I can safely express doubts, explore fears, and recharge my optimism. Sometimes this means long walks through Toronto, other times it’s honest conversations with my co-founders. The key is having space where you don’t have to be the visionary.
The Identity Merger
One of the most insidious aspects of founder mode is how it can consume your entire identity. I noticed this happening when I couldn’t have a conversation that wasn’t somehow related to DeckLinks or startup life. My friends and family started seeing me more as a founder than as Lidia.
This merger of personal and founder identity is dangerous because it makes every business challenge feel like a personal failure. I’m currently working on how to maintain my identity outside of work – actively investing in relationships and interests that have nothing to do with my companies.
In the end, the dark side of founder mode is as much a part of the journey as the victories and breakthroughs. Embracing this truth has made me not just a better founder, but a more complete human being.
Also read: Stealth Startup Mode Explained
The Balance Point Between Founder Mode and Managed Mode
Instead of swinging between complete control and total delegation, I’ve found success in what I call “connected leadership” with the sustainable approach. A prime example of effective founder management is how Steve Jobs ran Apple, demonstrating hands-on leadership and direct engagement with employees.
Connected Leadership
Through my experience at DeckLinks and BriefBid, I’ve discovered that the sweet spot in founder mode lies in knowing when to step in and when to step back. This means:
- Being deeply involved in strategic decisions while trusting your team with execution.
- Maintaining vision alignment without micromanaging the path there.
- Building systems that enhance human potential rather than replace it.
The Sustainable Approach
The key is creating a sustainable approach – where your involvement amplifies your team’s capabilities rather than diminishing them. This means:
- Empowering decision-making at all levels while maintaining strategic oversight.
- Building culture through example, not control.
- Focusing on long-term value creation over short-term gains.
The Path Forward: Embracing a New Kind of Founder Mode
When I started my first tech company, I thought being a great founder meant having all the answers. Today, I know it’s about having the courage to ask the right questions and trust in the collective brilliance of your team.
Throughout my entrepreneurial journey, I’ve learned that founder mode isn’t about being an exceptional individual – it’s about creating the conditions for exceptional outcomes. It’s about building something bigger than yourself.
I remember a pivotal moment at DeckLinks when I stepped back from trying to control everything and instead focused on enabling my team to shine. The results weren’t just better – they were beyond what I could have achieved alone. That’s when I truly understood: the future of founder mode isn’t about the founder at all. It’s about combining clear vision with collective empowerment.
So here’s my challenge to you: Let’s redefine founder mode for the next generation. Let’s move away from the myth of the all-knowing founder and embrace a more human, sustainable approach to building companies. One where:
- Success is measured not just in metrics, but in the growth and fulfillment of our teams.
- Innovation comes from creating spaces where everyone feels empowered to contribute.
- Leadership means being strong enough to show vulnerability and wise enough to trust others.
- Growth is sustainable because it’s built on human connection, not just market dynamics.
Your role as a founder isn’t to be the hero of the story – it’s to create an environment where heroes can emerge from every corner of your organization. This is how we’ll build companies that don’t just succeed in the market but make a lasting positive impact on the world.
The future belongs to founders who understand this truth: our greatest strength lies not in our individual capabilities, but in our ability to bring out the best in others.