The Soul of Startups

CHAPTER 10The Black Diamond

You may have thought to yourself, “I'm going to read this chapter first.” Because everything you've read feels relatable to you, even if only a little bit. So, you want to jump straight into finding out how you can be that perfect founder or meet the ideal leader. When I started writing this book, I had a founder in mind who fit the description in this chapter, but that person turned out to be better for the other chapters. Along the way, I realized that my perception had changed as I learned from others’ experiences and war stories. What is a Black Diamond anyway? And is it even important?

The challenge with founders is that their company is so critical that they adore it more than a human child. This is a generalization but also a personal observation. Some founders might put all their time and attention into doing what they believe is right at that time. Because they're the founders, they risk surrounding themselves with people who say what they want to hear. They don't realize that this falsity is often caused by known negative consequences for telling the truth. Consequently, they walk into an “emperor's new clothes” situation where everybody is pretending that the reality is not what it is, including themselves.

That's why there isn't such a thing as the perfect founder. Amidst working for 11 startups in seven years, I've coached four founders and mentored a cohort of 20 at an accelerator. I've also interviewed some wiser, more experienced ...