Founders Mode

With respect to Paul Graham's article Founder Mode

This is a landmark post for startups in Silicon Valley. It should have "legs" as its message spreads across the flyover states as well. Consider reading it at least twice, hence the link above and a small taste here in this image:

That question it raised? I thought you would catch that... here is a hint:

Look at what founders have achieved already, and yet they've achieved this against a headwind of bad advice.

Over my 30+ year "career" in numerous startups (over 30 but some years more than one), the concept of "mentor whiplash" often occurs as you try to gain that all-important traction (revenue). The bad advice is legion but you only get a sense of that after the fact in almost all cases.

Just to be clear I have also mentored a fair number of Founders. Helping raise a total of over $ 4,000,000.00 USD across less than a handful. No unicorns yet, but I am ever hopeful.

My biggest complaint? Luck. Yes, luck. Although "Timing is Everything" in a sense as Dr. Denis Waitley wrote, Luck is always a factor. The good news here is that the harder one works, the luckier one gets. But is it enough? Rarely.

Fast forward: Today I read this post from PG and felt this will help. It will help a lot of Founders gain a lot more traction and much faster. But only if you read it at least twice.