Hey Founder, Meet You

The startup muse strikes– you've got an idea for a new product or service that could solve real problems for people. You can't seem to shake the idea so you toss it up and down and even talk to some people about it. It is viable and you are willing to play around. You start building or you hit up a couple of your guys to help you and it looks like your project is a go. Congratulations, you are a startup founder.

Or not.

In his book, Zero to One, prolific investor, Peter Thiel explains that although the founding moment of a company happens only once–the beginning of a company's life–it is possible to extend this moment. In fact, if a startup is going to become a valuable enterprise, the innovativeness and creative excitement that characterizes the startup's founding moment must continue throughout its lifetime.

In other words, you don't just get to 'found' or create a startup to become a founder. You have to actually build the startup. What's more? You can't practice (or intern) to become a founder. So you don't know if you're a good one until you have had a practical taste of the work.

The point is, beyond the thrill of a new idea and the follow-come packages of being an elite techie, a lot goes into being a startup founder. And not everyone has what it takes to be one. While there is really no script or a set-in-stone checklist of things to do to be a startup founder, there are traits that show that you are suited for the startup journey.

For one, Adbo Raini says you have an ambition to take over the world or at least a portion of it (italics mine). This is what differentiates you from an entrepreneur who just wants to be his own boss. As a startup founder, you are making or leveraging technology¹ to build a product or service that will improve, change or hopefully disrupt the common way something is done. In other words, you are innovative. You are looking for or working on new, better ways to get things done. And as the founder or creator of the entity that builds such innovation, you're in charge. You are taking over that space.

However, being innovative is not enough. You have to be crazy and zealous about your idea. In the startup world, the road to success is jagged and strenuous. You will need something to keep you going when your self-will and strength fail you (yes, they will). You must be passionate enough about your idea or whatever outcome you hope to achieve that it gets you up and moving when you're at an all-time motivation low.

You are also an avid learner. As established earlier, you cannot be a good founder until you've experienced the work. To prevent disaster from day one, you have a lot of learning to do before day one.

“The first step to starting a startup has nothing to do with "entrepreneurship." It's to develop deep technical expertise of some sort so that you look at the world with informed eyes.”

~ Paul Graham

From technical and soft skills to understanding markets and tech ecosystems, you have a lot of studying to do as a founder. Learning from other people's experiences also helps you avoid mistakes they made and leverage what they did to be successful. Learning continues, perhaps more ferociously, when you've started building. Here you don't just read books or take courses. You put what you've learnt into practice. You will make mistakes still but those mistakes become opportunities to learn and be better.

As a founder, you are also a convincing leader. This is less about being a charismatic, everybody-loves-you extrovert and more about how good you are at convincing the best people available to help build your idea. If you are going to build something to scale, you need different skill sets. And there's only so much you can do by yourself if you don't want to burn out faster than a matchstick. On the other hand, joining your startup is very risky² for a potential employee. Can you communicate your vision in a way that convinces them to take the leap with you? When they join you, can you keep them motivated, manage, serve and lead them to success?

Lastly, you are resilient. Harj Taggar, in a class he took in Y Combinator's 2022 Startup School said that resilient people are well-suited to be startup founders. Starting up a company is a not-so-smooth journey that will stretch you. You must have the capacity to withstand or recover quickly from difficult situations. You know how to stay on a problem, try and try again until it gives way to a solution. And on the flip side, you know how to recognize and when to accept that something is truly impossible and it is time to find another way to reach a solution.

Note that these traits are not exhaustive. And you do not have to have fully developed all of them fully before you start your venture. You learn, improve and iterate as you go.

1. What Peter Thiel describes as any new or better way of doing things.

2. Startups are generally high-risk ventures. It's not you, it's the way things are.