Beyond Founder Mode: Scaling with Diverse Leadership
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Resources & Recommendations
Books
- "The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup" by Noam Wasserman - This book explores common challenges founders face, particularly regarding control and leadership.
Articles & Papers
- "Founder Mode" by Paul Graham - This essay defines "founder mode" and "manager mode" in the context of startup growth and leadership, which sparked a lot of discussion in the tech community.
People Mentioned
- Paul Graham (Co-founder of Y Combinator) - Referenced for his essay "Founder Mode," which is the central topic of discussion.
- Steve Jobs (Co-founder of Apple) - Mentioned as a founder whose influence on Apple's culture continues even after his passing.
Organizations & Institutions
- Y Combinator - Paul Graham, whose essay was discussed, is a co-founder of this startup accelerator.
- Salesforce - Mentioned in the context of its acquisition of Slack and the potential cultural shifts that can occur when a larger company acquires a startup.
- Apple - Referenced as a company where a strong founder's culture has persisted long after the founder's departure, demonstrating the lasting impact of initial leadership.
- Pinterest - Mentioned as a company where the original founders have largely turned over.
- Slack - Discussed as a case study of a company acquired by Salesforce, and the subsequent changes in its product and culture.