Founder Mental Flexibility

By definition, a startup founder is someone betting against the consensus. They are saying “of all the people who have thought about this problem - I am thinking about it in a new way, and they aren’t seeing what I’m seeing.”

Founders are wired to challenge the status quo. And to do that successfully requires an incredible sense of confidence in your own ideas.

AND simultaneously, founders have to be incredibly mentally flexible. They are often wrong, and if you aren’t continually learning as a founder, your company is dead.

As I partner with founders, one of my roles is to observe moments where a founder’s perspective on something may not be serving them. Sometimes I just call that out. “You seem stuck in this perspective.”

Sometimes I offer a different perspective - with no attachment to it being the “right” perspective - and that can serve as a starting point for a new conversation about the topic.

But doing this is delicate, because conviction in an unpopular or challenging idea is often the core of what makes a founder successful.

I’ve been wrestling with this paradox lately. I’m curious how others think about this moment? When to double down? When to explore alternatives? What is the most helpful way to engage with others in these moments of feeling stuck?