A Founder's Job

notmylawyer.com

15 points·jesselamb··3 comments

I disagree. I believe a business should be built around a product, a vision dreamed up by the founder well before they started hiring or searching for co-founders. The personality of the business will be determined by the product. The correct question is "What is the product going to be?" not "Who is your business going to be?". A company with a good product won't have to ask the questions posted in the article.

I see what you're saying, but notice I said your business is like a "person," not a "personality." Whatever problem you are solving is being solved by the business, not by you, even if you are a single founder or small team.

It's useful to ask who your business is going to be because it's a concrete acknowledgement that you are not your business. Once you do that you can decide which parts of who you are should be applied to solving the problem you're going to solve, and what contributions you'll need from others to complete who you want your business to be, whether they're contractors, co-founders, employees, advisors, or whomever.

Your business will also have a personality, but that's only small piece of the picture, just as a person's personality is only a piece of who they are. A person has skills, abilities, a point of view, values, etc., just like your business. And the way your customers will relate and interact with you as the provider of a product or service, is more similar to how they would relate to a person than anything else. So I think the lens is useful.

Thanks for the comment! :)

I have the hardest time settling on titles for blog posts. For this one the candidates were:

A Founder's Job.

Your Business is a Person. Make her Awesome.

Who is your Business?

Is there one you like better? Any tips for picking titles?

Thanks!

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