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Wait a Minute before Giving Away Equity
You Only Think You Work Hard
SMALL is the New Big — Embracing Efficiency in the Age of AI
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A Steady Hand in the Middle of the Storm
Risk it All vs Steady Paycheck
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How to Recruit a Rockstar Advisor
Why Having Zero Experience is a Huge Asset
My Competitor Got Funded — Am I Screwed?
The Hidden Treasure of Failed Startups
If It Makes Money, It Makes Sense
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$10K Per Month isn't Just Revenue — It's Life Support
The Ridiculous Spectrum of Investor Feedback
Startup CEOs Aren't Really CEOs
Series A, B, C, D, and E Funding: How It Works
Best Pitch Decks Ever: The Most Successful Fundraising Pitches You Need to Know
When to Raise Funds
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Should I Regret Not Raising Capital?
Unemployment Cases — Why I LOOOOOVE To Win Them So Much.
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Heat-Seeking Missile: WePay’s Journey to Product-Market Fit — Interview with Rich Aberman, Co-Founder of Wepay
The R&D technique for startups: Rip off & Duplicate
Why Some Startups Win.
Chapter #1: First Steps To Validate Your Business Idea
Product Users, Not Ideas, Will Determine Your Startup’s Fate
Drop Your Free Tier
Your Advisors Are Probably Wrong
Growth Isn't Always Good
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Staying Small While Going Big
Investors are NOT on Our Side of the Table
Who am I Really Competing Against?
Why Can't Founders Replace Themselves?
Actually, We Have Plenty of Time
Quitting vs Letting Go
How Startups Actually Get Bought
What if I'm Building the Wrong Product?
Are Founders Driven by Fear or Greed?
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Startup Financial Assumptions
Why Every Kid Should be a Startup Founder
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If a Startup Sinks, Founders Go Down With it
Founder Success: We Need a Strict Definition of Personal Success
Is Quiet Quitting a Problem at Startup Companies?
Founder Exits are Hard Work and Good Fortune, Not "Good Luck"
Finalizing Startup Projections
All Founders are Beloved In Good Times
Our Startup Culture of Entitlement
The Bullshit Case for Raising Capital
How do We Manage Our Founder Flaws?
What If my plan for retirement is "never retire"?
Startup Failure is just One Chapter in Founder Life
6 Similarities between Startup Founders and Pro Athletes
All Founders Make Bad Decisions — and That's OK
Startup Board Negotiations: How do I tell the board I need a new deal?
Founder Sacrifice — At What Point Have I Gone Too Far?
Youth Entrepreneurship: Can Middle Schoolers be Founders?
Living the Founder Legend Isn't so Fun
Why Do VC Funded Startups Love "Fake Growth?"
How Should I Share My Wealth with Family?
How Many Deaths Can a Startup Survive?
This is Probably Your Last Success
Why Do We Still Have Full-Time Employees?
The Case Against Full Transparency
Should I Feel Guilty for Failing?
Always Take Money off the Table

Do Founders Need to be Good Managers?

Wil Schroter

Do Founders Need to be Good Managers?

Being a Founder doesn't imply one is a good manager. It just means we were around when the company was formed!

Sometimes Founders do grow into great managers — and sometimes they were great managers already. But the real question is: "Do Founders need to be good managers?"

Ideally, yes. But it's not a requirement.

We can fake it for a minute

In the formative years, when we only have a small team, we can usually get by without being great managers.

That's because the team is still small, and mostly operates in a flat "team" structure without a lot of management to be had. That's also why Founders often don't realize they are shitty managers until later on because they ran for so long in an unmanaged structure.

Eventually, though, it catches up with us

Early on, our lack of managerial capability may not be an issue because our experience or skills as a manager haven't really been tested.

It's not until we have to let go of a key executive or steer the company out of a major crisis until we understand why good managers actually exist.

Good managers have a combination of experience and natural skills that make them born leaders. Founders that lack both become very apparent when situations go code red, and that starts to create serious animosity with everyone involved — from employees to investors.

Good Founders find great managers

If we think we lack the experience and natural management tendencies — or we just hate managing (which BTW can look the same to our staff) — then the only way to be a good Founder is to find and empower great managers.

It's OK to be a Founder without great management skills, but it's not OK to be a bad manager with no backup.

One important caveat: the great way to become a good manager is to surround ourselves with good managers that we can grow with. What we may need is time in the saddle to become a good manager, without having to be one from the outset.

In Case You Missed It

How to Manage Expectations with a Growing Team. As our Startup accelerates toward our desired destination, we must let go of the management reins by building specially-designed teams with smaller-than-normal numbers. The result yields less frazzled managers and staff members who are focused on carrying out the tasks at hand.

The Benefits of Emotional Intelligence. Performance is about more than technical expertise — it relies on our ability to relate to people. Leaders who can recognize their own emotions in relation to how they affect their behavior are better able to control their own impulses and handle change.

What Effective Leadership is all About. Research has found that less than 50% of employees trust those in leadership roles. So what actually makes our team see us as a leader they can trust, respect, and take direction from? Check out this guide to get started.

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