The 3 Common Traits of Good Founders I Met

1?? They pay close attention to the impact of physical health on the mind.

When meeting people, one of the questions I often ask is how they sleep, whether they exercise or have their own philosophy about exercise, and what kind of food they eat.

We tend to forget that the body governs the mind.

Almost all of our actions and decisions are directly influenced by factors such as hormones, blood sugar levels, heart rate, and body temperature.

A well-known example, it is said that when shopping in a hungry state, people spend up to 64% more. Surely body dominates the mind.

In my case, I realized that the type of carbohydrates I eat for lunch affects my performance between 1 PM and 3 PM.

If I have refined carbohydrates (white rice, flour) or food with a lot of MSG for lunch, no matter how well I slept, I can't endure that time.

So I try to have meals with a balance of protein and fiber as much as possible.

2?? They are framework collectors.

We underestimate the power of frameworks. However, using frameworks effectively can save us a tremendous amount of time.

One of the best-prepared examples of a framework is from a movie I recently re-watched called 'Cast Away.'

Stranded in the middle of the ocean on a deserted island, the protagonist had to learn the framework (methodology) of making fire, catching fish, and steering a boat. His ability to quickly grasp these frameworks determined whether he could survive and eventually escape from the island.

After getting a job, there are not that many situations where you need to acquire new frameworks and apply them in practice in your life.

Especially considering how our mid-high school and college education are designed to create a good, law-abiding citizen that work for corporates. It’s as if we have been pre-installed an OS (Operating System) that bars us from making startups.

Founders forget that startups operate in a different framework, another society, another game.

Founders who enjoy collecting frameworks, continue to do so for their specific fields and business models making them grow much faster.

3?? They are fundamentally good people.

Here, if there is a more suitable word than "good," it should be replaced.

Almost all of the successful founders I have met fall into the category of what we all say, "good people."

It is no accident that they were the founders who made me seriously consider quitting VC and joining their company.

Doing a startup requires persuading many people. Founders initially persuade customers, investors, and potential team members, and at the beginning, founders have nothing to show other than trust.

We have to know that for all three categories, people on the opposite side also make important decisions in their lives with the startup founder.

What’s daunting is that founders forget this truth.

I’ve seen many cases where they repeatedly revise the product and pricing strategies without realizing that personality and character have a significant impact on their sales conversion.

The polarity of the saying ‘the rich get richer and the poor get poorer' is especially more applicable to my third point.

Founders with excellent personalities meet better investors, better team members, and more customers faster.

It’s also worth noting that these founders with excellent personalities consider themselves just lucky to have so many opportunities, but it's not just luck.

We all know that people naturally gravitate towards good personalities, and that luck is actually created by your personality which is the secret sauce.

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Kudo’s to Jin Kim from Miracle for the inspiration and the good coffee this morning!