The NFL season kicks off tonight, and even if that news makes you ecstatic, you’re still not half as excited as US sportsbooks — the American Gaming Association estimates this season will usher in $35B worth of wagers. Want in? Bet on the Dallas Cowboys flaming out hard in their first playoff game and you’ll probably be set to pay off your mortgage.
In today’s email:
“Founder mode”: What’s going on here?
Ridin’ solo: Dining alone is up; so is traveling alone.
Around the web: The best iPhone pics, the most beautiful words, and more.
👇 Listen: Breaking down “founder mode” vs. “manager mode.”
The Big Idea
Does anyone know what ‘founder mode’ is?
What even is “founder mode”?
2024-09-05T00:00:00Z
Juliet Bennett Rylah
One minute you’re “very demure,” the next you’re in “founder mode.” As the winds of the internet blow, so too do our mercurial mindsets.
Founder mode comes via an essay that Y Combinator founding partner Paul Graham published on Sunday.
At a recent YC event, Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky talked about how he was initially told to hire good people, then stand back, which turned out to be bad advice.
This led Graham to write about how there are two ways to run a company:
Manager mode, in which founders delegate tasks to others.
Founder mode, a less-discussed but valuable method in which founders remain involved, even as the company scales.
The case for founder mode is that manager mode creates distance between the founder and company operations. Per Graham, it allows “professional fakers” to “drive the company into the ground” while founders are busy not micromanaging them.
But… is that true?
Business leaders and experts weighed in, with some praising founder mode and others expressing skepticism.
While Graham pointed to Steve Jobs as a good example of founder mode, The Information founder Jessica Lessin noted that Jobs had Tim Cook. She wrote that founders “are usually pretty annoying to work for” and need solid managers to keep their vision alive.
Investor Dan Rose, a former Amazon and Facebook exec, praised Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg’s micromanaging leadership style, while VC Sam Gerstenzang wrote that Jeff Bezos and Netflix founder Reed Hastings’ playbook actually involved hiring the right people to spend more time on whatever was most important and reducing information barriers.
Swedish investor Henrik Torstensson wrote it’s not which method but the execution, calling Microsoft CEO — but not founder — Satya Nadella a great manager-mode leader.
It seems like, as Graham’s essay suggests, there isn’t a clear playbook for founder mode, and thus, it’s hard to define. It’s possible that the best leaders toggle between both modes, and the dated advice to just back off needs a fresh look — if not a new buzzword.
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Halloween’s dumbest costumes are here: Chipotle teamed up with Spirit Halloween for a collection of themed bodysuit costumes, giving you the special opportunity to pay $40 to dress up as a Chipotle-branded napkin, fork, water cup, burrito, or to-go bag. But if you long to spend an entire Halloween party hearing people gripe about how much extra they have to pay for guac, these bodysuits are a dream come true.
SNIPPETS
Nvidia stock was down 1.66% on Wednesday but that’s far better than its 9.5% Tuesday plunge, during which it lost $278.9B in value — the largest single-day loss for a US company. Nvidia is still valued at $2.65T.
Safe Superintelligence (SSI), the newly founded startup from former OpenAI leader Ilya Sutskever, raised $1B in cash to more carefully develop AI systems with safety in mind.
McDonald’s is switching up its McFlurry packaging. Next week, the chain will swap its dome-shaped, plastic lids for cardboard cups as part of its goal to transition all “primary guest packaging” to renewable or recycled materials by the end of 2025.
Volvo is the latest automaker to backtrack on lofty EV goals: The company, which promised to be electric-only by the end of the decade, is instead aiming to have 90%+ of sales come from electrified vehicles by 2030, including plug-in hybrids.
Lyft will discontinue its dockless bike and scooter programs in Denver and Washington DC to cut costs, and will rename its bikes and scooters division “Lyft Urban Solutions.”
More pig parts are coming: eGenesis, a genetic engineering firm that develops human-compatible organs from pig organs, raised $191m and is in talks with the FDA to begin clinical trials.
Nordstrom’s founding family, which owns a ~33% stake in the company, made a ~$3.8B offer to take the department store chain private along with Mexico’s El Puerto de Liverpool, a ~10% stakeholder.
Barney, the big purple dinosaur, is returning to TV after 14 years via a new animated series on Max. The show debuts in October, consists of 52 11-minute episodes, and is bound to torment us all anew with that "I love you, you love me" song.
Don't miss this...
Wisdom aplenty for marketers: why keeping calm can be a superpower, why good ideas should be tossed in favor of better ones, and how to get more comfortable with AI, taken just one hour at a time.
Data Point
Great news for introverts: You know what’s better than splitting a delicious dessert with a loved one? Not splitting it. And US diners seem to agree — solo dining reservations have climbed 29% over the past two years, according to data from restaurant reservation site OpenTable via AP News.
Solo dining is particularly popular with travelers, and 69% of American baby boomers say they choose to dine solo mainly when traveling alone.
But how often are people jetting off by themselves? That’s also becoming increasingly common; this year, 50% of Americans plan on traveling alone, per a Kayak survey.
With so many parties of one, restaurants are jumping on the trend, whether through increased single-seat options, customizable menu offerings, or communal tables.
Fit the bill
Can you identify today’s billion-dollar brand?
This company’s roots trace back to a New York aircraft company founded in 1929, and the California aircraft company that acquired it following the Cold War.
Marilyn Monroe once worked at a company this company would later acquire, inspecting parachutes. She won a $50 war bond at an employee picnic, at which she was crowned “queen” of the company.
One of its most recent projects is an underwater drone named after the sea creature it looks like.
👇 Scroll to the bottom for the answer 👇
AROUND THE WEB
📅 On this day: In 1882, the first Labor Day parade was held in NYC, on a Tuesday. President Grover Cleveland signed the holiday into law in 1894, dedicating the first Monday in September.
🔎 Chill out: by choosing which word is the most beautiful to you. Then, check out the leaderboard to see what words everyone else likes.
Yesterday, we asked you to weigh in on LinkedIn’s hottest debate: Is the Open to Work profile banner ever OK?
Readers were split. While 18% said the banner is extremely cringe and 39% said it’s a little embarrassing but sometimes necessary, another 36% have never thought twice about it and 7% contend it’s super helpful.
On one side, most said something to the tune of:
“It actually dissuades potential employers from hiring you. People love ‘already jobbed’ people… rude.”
“If you’re currently employed and seeking work, it’s just asking to be fired.”
“It’s tacky and lacks professionalism. Talk about airing out your dirty laundry!”
“In retrospect, it reeks of desperation which, in my case, it was…”
Those in favor of the Open to Work banner pointed out that there’s nothing wrong with saying you’re looking for a job when you are, in fact, looking for a job.
Plus, it might not be worth overthinking. As one reader put it: “The whole concept of LinkedIn is cringe anyways 🤷🏼♀️.”
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