After more than two years — and nearly 100 episodes — as a host of TechCrunch’s recently ended Found podcast, I have learned a lot about how founders approach building their startups.
I’ve heard stories about how founders know when it is the right time to expand from their core product, to how startups approach hiring, to what got entrepreneurs to take the leap in the first place, and everything in between.
While not a founder myself, some of the learnings and advice I heard on the show stood out more than others. I’ve compiled a short and sweet list of the five best pieces of advice for founders I heard on the show that are both practical and philosophical.
Founders should lean into what they aren’t good at
While many of the founders talked about finding co-founders or making early hires who helped fill their experience or knowledge gaps, Rippling co-founder and CEO Parker Conrad thinks founders should do the opposite.
Conrad called the practice of hiring people to fill roles a founder isn’t good at, or doesn’t want to do, bullshit.
“You should find the things that you hate within the company, and you should run towards them and bear hug them and just really take them on and focus on those things, because those are the things that are probably going to kill you,” Conrad said. “Those are the things that you’re probably avoiding because it’s uncomfortable to focus on them. I’ve definitely seen that in myself, and the things that you really hate, like, that’s where you should spend all your time.”
