Member-only story
The age of the founder superhero is over
Been a long time coming
We glorify founders as the ultimate heroes of a successful business story. From the ideation to the exit or to the thriving business, they’re the ones we look up to as those who’ve achieved it all by the sheer force of their intellect, brilliance and emotional intelligence (or lack thereof).
What we don’t see is the burnout. The lost family time. The hours put in at the cost of so much else. The insane pressure coming at them from everywhere : employees, customers, investors. The fear of taking time off in case the whole thing crumbles the moment she leaves.
What we also don’t talk about as much is how crucial the team is to the success of the business. Most founder stories are written with a hero’s journey story arc to them : the misunderstood founder who, after much sacrifice and brilliance, goes on to disrupt this and that field and build a company that is loved and valued.
The team, when mentioned, is the mere side-kick who came together and did something great only because they were steered by the genius founder.
Humble founders do absolutely acknowledge how crucial their team is in carving out success though.
