What Paul Graham thinks about management
Co-founder of Y Combinator and Viaweb; essayist at paulgraham.com.
Paul Graham did not write this page.
We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.
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Only Paul Graham on management. See everyone on management
6 dated positions, 2024, in their own words. Our reading of what Paul Graham has said — not written or endorsed by them.
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Their wordsThere are things founders can do that managers can't, and not doing them feels wrong to founders, because it is.
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Their wordsIn effect there are two different ways to run a company: founder mode and manager mode. Till now most people even in Silicon Valley have implicitly assumed that scaling a startup meant switching to manager mode.
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Their wordsExcept in practice, judging from the report of founder after founder, what this often turns out to mean is: hire professional fakers and let them drive the company into the ground.
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Their wordsWhatever founder mode consists of, it's pretty clear that it's going to break the principle that the CEO should engage with the company only via his or her direct reports.
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Their wordsSo founder mode will be more complicated than manager mode. But it will also work better.
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Their wordsI also have another less optimistic prediction: as soon as the concept of founder mode becomes established, people will start misusing it. Founders who are unable to delegate even things they should will use founder mode as the excuse. Or managers who aren't founders will decide they should try to act like founders.