The talk of the town: Founder mode

Transmission #29 from Jupiter Dispatch

Feb 06, 2025

`Time: 3.10 Minutes`

Today we talk about the newest flex of the tech bros…

Founder mode.

But what is this “en vogue” word about?

Like always in silicon valley, if an AirBnB founder like Brain Chesky talks about something at Bloomberg and old YC master Paul Graham is publishing an essay to a the topic, your attention span should rise for longer than just a TikTok-Short.

In the past couple of years, the startup industry leaders showing a great touch in selling the next “right” step, if the world order is changing again.

So founder mode is the answer after a decade of strong startup growth, which is now declining due changing conflicts and economic outlook.

Behind the new narrative is the idea, that many startups which are now big corps hired to fast, took to many product ideas at once and build up heavy bureaucracy.

So many founders gave over the rains to their COOs and executive levels, after they worked their ass off to scale their businesses. A process, I believe, we all understand.

But now many big firms are in trouble with too much chaos, cost structure and process. Going into founder mode means, that the CEOs are jumping back into the daily business and force fast decisions to steer their company into a better future.

I think in general maybe the right idea, also here in Europe, a lot of companies could need a boss in founder mode right now.

If you want to get a better understanding of what the startup world is talking about right now, here is Paul Graham’s Essay… Enjoy.