Being a founder is a roller coaster ride. 😀 You don’t like the amusement park? Become an employee. If you want to build. Prepare for a ride. P.S. How would you describe being a founder? See mine in my comment below. ⬇️
What's spot on here in the image is the founder's responsibility to contain the employee's anxieties so they feel less of them. It's also the founder's responsibilities to contain their own anxieties, they can do it in many ways, e.g. with the help of cofounders or external help in the form of personal therapy or leadership coaching or something else (running marathons 😂 seems to be a popular one..). However, if the founder is going through a rollercoaster beyond what they have capacity to contain themselves or the supports they are getting are not enough, that spills into the startup culture and then the founder is on a rollercoaster and the employees are on it as well, the *same* rollercoaster, as scary and as out of control, not the kiddy version of it.
Being a founder is like paddling a canoe in a sea full of sharks, rowing towards battleships whilst navigating choppy seas…oh and your canoe has a hole in it! I would say startup teams may not experience the extreme highs and lows of the founder but the most engaged teams are certainly there alongside you at every single turn, as long as they see the vision.
Being a founder is like being a father to a naughty boy... during the day he is acting out, frustrating you to the point of thinking leaving him to his grandma, screaming at you, fighting you... in the evening you still tug him in the blanket and whisper "I love you"
I wouldn't change it for anything 😄
Igor Shapiro would love to hear about your experience! Because for now, even if you feel like the 1st picture, you're managing it good 😂
No any self development book can reach the self development you are going through as a founder, not even those seminars from Tony Robbins 😜
Trying to build a boat while you’re already at sea. You’re underqualified, everyone’s shouting different directions, and you’re pretty sure the map was drawn by a pirate with a sense of humor😃
As a by-product of this rollercoaster dynamic, I am scared of real rollercoasters. My 9 year old daughter held my hand last year in Disneyland on one of the scarier rides. T
Being a founder is like attempting to cook a multi-course meal in a kitchen where the appliances are constantly malfunctioning...and the fire alarm keeps going off! Nikola Yanev
I simplify fundraising for founders | 7 years in VC | Forbes 30u30
2w📌 As a startup founder you sleep like a baby: You wake up in the middle of the night and cry.😀