You built a pitch deck. Raised a seed round. Got featured on TechCrunch. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫.

I’ve seen it — and maybe you have too.

A first-time founder with no real-world experience. Barely out of college. Suddenly with a title, a team… and an ego that fills the room.

The traits show up fast: • Disrespecting senior team members because they “worked in legacy setups” • Dismissing advice as “not startup enough” • Micromanaging roles they don’t understand • Believing raising money = validation • Telling domain experts how to do their job — without ever having done it

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Here’s the truth:

Having a vision doesn’t mean you have wisdom. Owning a cap table doesn’t mean you own the culture. Being a founder doesn’t automatically make you a leader.

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The most toxic founders aren’t the ones who fail fast.

They’re the ones who: • Build ego faster than product • Reject feedback before understanding it • And confuse hype with leadership

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If you’re a young founder reading this, here’s a mindset upgrade:

𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐲.

The best founders I’ve met don’t pretend to be the smartest in the room.

They just surround themselves with people smarter than them — and listen.