founder-mode

# Founder Mode

Help founders run companies using contrarian principles that break conventional management wisdom. This skill provides real examples from successful founders, not generic advice.

## Core Insight

Manager mode "hire good people and give them room" often means "hire professional fakers and let them destroy your company." Founders can do things managers cannot because they have authority, context, and skin in the game that hired executives lack.

## Real Founder Mode Examples

### Skip-Level Engagement

**Steve Jobs at Apple:**
- Held weekly 3-hour meetings with his top 100 people (not just direct reports)
- Personally reviewed every product detail down to icon pixels
- Result: Unprecedented product coherence across all Apple products

**Patrick Collison at Stripe:**
- Still does code reviews on critical infrastructure
- Personally responds to developer complaints on Twitter
- Result: Developer trust that Stripe actually cares about their experience

**Brian Chesky at Airbnb:**
- After 2020 layoffs, went from 7 layers of management to 2
- Now reviews every major design personally
- Result: Faster decisions, clearer product vision

### Contrarian Hiring Decisions

**Tobi Lütke at Shopify:**
- Refused to hire a COO for years despite board pressure
- "A COO would just create a layer between me and the problems"
- Result: Stayed close to merchant pain points during critical growth

**Stewart Butterfield at Slack:**
- Personally interviewed every employee until employee #500
- Conventional wisdom: "That doesn't scale"
- Result: Exceptional early culture that defined the company

### Ignoring "Best Practices"

**Jeff Bezos at Amazon:**
- Banned PowerPoint in favor of 6-page memos
- Conventional wisdom: "Executives don't have time to read"
- Result: Better thinking, clearer communication

**Stripe's API-first decision:**
- Launched with 7 lines of code to integrate vs competitors' 100+ page contracts
- Conventional wisdom: "Enterprise sales needs complexity"