My 2 Cents | #6

Unveiling the Founder's Paradigm: What to Learn from Sam Altman's Case for Startup Success

30/11/2023

Opinion of the Advisory Principal Gianfranco Miranda

Hi, welcome again to this space of thought in the realm of startups. I'm Gianfranco Miranda, and let me guide you with some advice on what's going on with the ecosystem and the new challenges coming ahead. Welcome to My 2 Cents. 👇

In this edition, we are going to talk about Sam Altman and the relevance of founders. As you well know, Sam Altman was fired from OpenAI, without further discussion from the board, and everyone was left in awe. A few days later, Microsoft told the press that they were going to hire Altman to lead the new advanced AI research team for the company, and then in no more than 48 hours, Altman was back at OpenAI. Why? How? What the hell happened⁉

So there are many theories, but in reality, none of them work. Back when everything was built, Sam was the lead founder of OpenAI. He was the brains behind the day-to-day work and the future (mission and vision) of the company, and in reality, no one was going to replace him, not even AI. But how is a board now decommissioned, and Microsoft has the power to reinstate him? So, this is the power of the founder. 👤

Sam is not only the "AI" guy. He is an entrepreneur from an early age and has gotten a lot of attention from investors and big corporations since then. His tenure at Y Combinator opened him to a lot of attention from the corporate sector and investors around the globe, and his AI initiative was out of this realm when it was initiated. As he was the one leading the team with his co-founders doing what he had in his mind, no one was going to replace what he already had in plans for the company's success, so to have him back was a no-brainer for Microsoft. 🧠

This action is what I like to call "The Founder Paradigm" and I quote myself:

"As the founder's relevance to the company goes beyond the actual concept of leadership, founders are a bad necessity for the startup's success. At a certain time of the company's growth, you won't need them, but if you don't have them and can't keep them around, the company is on track to fail."

Some of you may remember Nanny McPhee's movie quote:

"When you need me, but do not want me, then I must stay. But when you want me but no longer need me, I have to go."

When you need the founder for his ideas and vision but you don't want to agree with what he is planning and want them gone, the founder will stay as long as it's required for the company to succeed. But when you really want him to be at the company because some trouble is ahead, but the founder sees everything and has the knowledge that the team can make everything work, they will not appear and will make you responsible and accountable for all actions. They will not appear to save the day. 👁️

The founder's relevance, like Sam Altman in the current state of AI, is set as "Business Critical." Why? Because he is the one that is 24/7 responding to everything that is going on at the company, the same as Elon Musk does with its businesses, and other founders do. They are the ones leading, responding, acting, serving, shaping, improving, with the help of the teams, but with their ideas. 🌐

Not everything is action. An action of only the workforce and people on a board or directive team without a founder/CEO in the startup world is the worst that can happen because nothing will be obtained. So we as founders need to take note of 2 main things when we are walking on eggshells like Sam. 🔹First, have more than 2 eyes at the company. Get it? Be Sauron if you may. 🔹Second, be 2 steps ahead of any action from your team. Know everything in detail of what needs to happen and have that in consideration in any conversation making yourself the most important person in the room.

I hope this edition of My 2 Cents gave you something worth reading. I wish you a great week and much success in your startup. If you need some advice with your startup, don't hesitate to ask. I'm just a DM or email 📩contact@disruptintl.com away to help you step up with your business. 🤝