The Critical Role of Missionaries and Mercenaries in Scaling Beyond Founder Dependence
In the world of startups, the “Founder Mode” concept has sparked considerable debate. This leadership style, where founders are deeply involved in day-to-day operations, is often hailed as a crucial ingredient for success. However, as startups evolve into more complex enterprises, the suitability of Founder Mode comes into question. This essay delves into the intricacies of Founder Mode, contrasting its benefits in the early stages of a company with its limitations as the organization grows, and explores alternative strategies that may better suit mature companies.
“Founder Mode” is a term popularized by Paul Graham, describing a leadership approach where founders maintain direct control over daily operations. Proponents like Airbnb’s founder and CEO Brian Chesky argue that this hands-on involvement is essential for startup success, fearing that reliance on professional managers might dilute the company’s core values and impede long-term achievements.
As a four-time startup founder deeply committed to the hands-on approach, I firmly believe in the necessity of direct involvement in the early stages of a company’s journey. Early-stage startups do need a founder who interacts with the teams directly. However, this management style is not scalable for more mature companies. Companies mature like Airbnb should explore alternative strategies for growth.
Before I delve into my argument, let’s start with the facts: Nobody disputes that when companies grow, more people must be brought in to run them. AI might change the slope of this equation, but directionally, this will stay true for the foreseeable future.
Ultimately, founders decide who to hire, especially in the early days. They have a choice between hiring Missionaries and Mercenaries. Missionaries fully subscribe to companies’ missions, will endure the uncertainty of starting a business, and will stick around longer than regular employees. Sometimes, they are even willing to accept lower pay, which is usually what early-stage companies can afford. However, Missionaries are rare because there might not be enough people who genuinely believe in your mission to support it as it grows.
Therefore, as founders scale companies, they will need to rely more and more on the second type of employee, Mercenaries. Mercenaries are incentive-driven individuals who join companies looking at what they will get from it, usually financially. Because founders are hiring fewer employees who are naturally aligned with the company’s mission, they will need to devote more energy to maintaining the company culture as they scale. The problem is that typically, early-stage companies don’t have the bandwidth to invest in their culture, though, and they see an evident erosion on that front.
When a company’s culture begins to falter, it has a ripple effect across various aspects of the company. Employees who are inspired by the company’s mission are the ones who put in the extra effort, think about the company even outside of work hours, and go above and beyond to contribute to the company’s success. However, when the mission loses its strength, employees’ performance tends to suffer, especially when faced with complex challenges. This decline in individual performance can spread like a contagion if not addressed promptly, affecting other employees, including Missionaries, who may become disheartened and leave, further exacerbating the decay of the company’s culture.
Founders should act to mitigate the natural process of company culture deterioration when a lower proportion of Missionaries are in the company. If there is no way to avoid bringing in non-Missionaries, companies should make sure that the employees they hire are legit Mercenaries. However, as Chesky and Graham claim (even without saying that way), hiring the right Mercenaries is easier said than done. It’s hard because companies fail to create proper alignment between the employees’ goals and the company, as I’ll explain later.
If you look at that angle, Founder Mode applied to later-stage companies is nothing but a way to fix the low performance driven by company culture degradation. It would be much better for founders to look for structural ways to fix the root cause of the low performance: culture dilution.
As we navigate the scaling challenges, it’s crucial to understand that simply increasing numbers isn’t enough—how to grow matters just as much. The shift from early reliance on Missionaries to a balanced integration of well-aligned Mercenaries is not just a hiring strategy but a vital pivot to sustain companies’ core values during expansion. This strategic evolution in hiring practices is essential to maintain the integrity of the company’s mission and ensure the company culture thrives regardless of size.
So, what hiring strategy should companies adopt? Early-stage companies should over-index on hiring Missionaries to defend the culture. Tip: Many former founders are Missionaries by nature, plus they bring a holistic view of businesses since they typically understand other founders’ unique challenges. Founders in later-stage companies should set up generous compensation packages tied to concrete performance goals to force alignment throughout the company.
In conclusion, it’s evident that the responsibilities of founders dramatically transform as their companies mature. This evolution requires a shift from hands-on tasks to strategic leadership, emphasizing the development of a resilient culture and a well-aligned team. By mastering this transition, founders can ensure their companies not only survive but thrive in competitive environments. The future of any company depends significantly on the founder’s ability to foster an adaptable, enduring culture and ensure alignment across all levels of the organization. To keep companies thriving long-term, founders should take responsibility for maintaining their company culture flourishing and align the team with the company’s success through any means necessary: purpose or greed.
Gustavo Guida 