What’s it like to be managed by someone in founder mode.
It's probably not what you think.
I’m not usually one to jump on the bandwagon of trending topics like founder mode. But a series of articles on the topic sent me down a hole and compelled me to share a personal experience, so here we are. 🤷🏻♀️
What’s founder mode?
The context: A piece by Paul Graham (the founder of Y Combinator) where he talks about founder mode is trending following a talk by Brian Chesky, the founder of Airbnb.
Founder Mode promotes a hands-on leadership approach that edges on micro management. It circles around this idea that a Founder should retain control of their company and management. That staying in the details, despite pressure to bring in real managers, is a better move for the company. Think Steve Jobs or Brian Chesky.
The internet exploded with think pieces - as it’s really good at doing - dissecting this concept, but I especially loved Marty Cagan’s breakdown of what better management looks like—founder or not.
What is better management?
In his response to founder mode, Marty outlines the management spectrum from full delegation to micromanagement, irrespective of title1. He highlights that somewhere in the middle is a sweet spot that doesn’t quite have a name. This middle ground is what Marty argues is better management:
“Better management means immersing in the details of the business, asking countless questions, pushing to get good answers, coaching and developing their people to pass along what they’ve learned, talking directly with employees at every level, connecting the dots between people in different areas of the company, and relentlessly evangelizing the vision and strategy.
I would argue we have lacked a name for the style of leadership practiced at the top, product model companies.”
I asked ChatGPT what you’d call this leadership style and it spit out “Immersive” and “Transformational” leadership2.
Given that I coach many product leaders, I read a lot about how to be a better leader.
But, it got me thinking: what does it feel like to be managed by someone in founder mode?
I immediately thought of one manager—unsurprisingly, from my time at Spotify, a product-led company.
There’s a lot of talk about how to be in founder mode, but what about the experience of being managed by someone in founder mode, especially when it's done well?
Let me tell you.
What its like to work under a leader operating in founder mode
I never had the chance to work directly under any founder, but I did have the privilege of working under a founder of a company bet. Which, if you know anything about Spotify, you'll understand is a big deal.
My manager was young, around my age3, but her ambition was unlike anyone I ever encountered. On my first day, I read a deck she authored and thought to myself, "I’ve never been this inspired by a product vision before.4"
But, it wasn’t all smooth sailing - in fact it was quite the opposite.
I felt constantly challenged, and imposter syndrome was rampant. I consistently felt like I was climbing up a spiky mountain even though I arrived at Spotify from a similar industry and a reputable company. How was I feeling so incompetent?!
But when I reflect on my career, particularly today as a Product Coach, so many of my core leadership lessons trace back to that time working with her.
At the time, I, of course, didn’t have the term "founder mode" to describe her approach, but looking back now, it’s crystal clear. Working with her and an incredible team of female product managers, I felt the intense pressure to step up my game—to study harder, work smarter, and being a true independent, critical thinker. It was tough, but it, no doubt, shaped me into a stronger leader today.
The core lessons learned managed in founder mode
Advocating for Myself
I was always lucky with managers who supported my growth and guided me towards promotions. She was the first to deny me an “easy” promotion, and instead pushed me to build my own case for a promotion. It was devastating but a pivotal moment where I learned to truly advocate for myself. I smile thinking about that denial today as being core to my growth at that time. It’s one of my favorite concepts I coach on now: showing others the agency they have to build a case for their own growth.
Leading with My Perspective
She made it clear that the most successful people in the room weren’t just trying to build consensus; they were driving decisions with clear perspectives and critical thinking. She challenged me to always lead with my own viewpoint, even if it was uncomfortable. And let me tell you, it was uncomfortable as hell. It was during this time that I developed a key decision-making framework that I speak about and share with clients today, over and over again.
Critical Thinking
She was a master of critical thinking, and she taught me that when someone tells you "no," it’s often an invitation to push harder, to challenge the status quo, whether it’s the legal team or the head of the company. She never cowered when people told her no. She demonstrated what true hoop jumping looked like. If she could push back on the C-Suite of the company, I could push back on my Engineering Managers and Design partners, respectfully of course. It’s here where my product backbone really developed
Biasing for Action
Our 1:1s weren’t about status updates. Instead, she would ask tough questions, challenging my decisions. I’d often come in feeling really confident and walk out feeling like I had SO much more to do to make sure that the next time she looked at my work, I was more prepared and had more answers than I needed. I wasn’t just looking for edge cases on behalf of customers. I was considering edge cases in preparation for her and all of the business constraints she brought to me. It was illuminating to say the least.
Betting on Yourself
One of the most valuable lessons she imparted was that great ideas and powerful visions don’t always come from the C-suite. If you’re dedicated, you can make the impossible happen, no matter where you sit in the organization. The impossible DID happen under her watch. She had me chasing dreams and ideas for quite a while during my tenure (DJ mixes on Spotify…a licensing nightmare but a hack project worth considering!). And she made me feel like if I worked hard enough I could bet on myself too.
Thanks K for betting on me, pushing me and showing me what better management - dare I say founder mode management - looks like :-)
Who’s one of the managers that challenged you the most? What did you get from that experience? Who took a bet on you?
Hi - I’m Jori and I’m a Product Coach. Here’s how to work with me ↩️
I work with Product Leaders and their teams to unlock their biggest career moments. If you’re looking for support - drop me a note, I’d love to connect. 🤝
I co-host Product Leadership Breakfast NYC, a monthly product breakfast series to bring together curated groups of PM leaders to connect and share learnings and insights over casual breakfast. If you live in NYC or find yourself passing through, join us! ☕
I appreciate that he took the titles out of the equation and focused on the function of management rather than the shiny title of “founder” or not.
Fitting as Marty’s latest book is called Transformed, a great read!
That’s an imposter syndrome enhancer if I’ve ever seen one!
To be fair, it was a VERY compelling and exciting product idea as well. But the storytelling was exceptional. I ran home from work that day and made my now husband read it immediately.