Burnout, bad hires, hard pivots — what works when things break.
Founder Mindset 7 min read How to Build Resilience as a Founder Before You Need It The thing about resilience is that nobody thinks about it until they need it. Then they’re trying to build the infrastructure in the middle of the crisis, which is like trying to install a smoke detector while the kitchen … Read more
Free Playbook · Founder Mindset How to Run a Weekly ReviewThat Actually Makes You a Better Founder Most founders end the week having reacted to everything and reflected on nothing. The weekly review is the practice that changes that — turning the chaos of the week into learning you can act on the next one. … Read more
Free Playbook · Founder Mindset How to Make PeaceWith Uncertainty as a Founder Uncertainty is not a problem to be solved in startups — it’s the operating condition. The founder who spends their energy trying to eliminate uncertainty loses twice: they can’t eliminate it, and the attempt consumes the cognitive resources needed to operate well … Read more
Free Playbook · Founder Mindset How to TransitionFrom Founder to CEO Every founder who scales past 20 people faces the same shift: the things that made you a great founder — the hands-on building, the personal relationships, the instinct-driven decisions — become the things that limit the company if you can’t evolve past them. The … Read more
Free Playbook · Founder Mindset How to Recover From a Major Mistakeas a Founder Every founder makes mistakes that feel catastrophic in the moment — a bad hire who damages the team, a strategic call that costs 6 months of momentum, a customer relationship handled badly. The difference between founders who recover well and those … Read more
Free Playbook · Founder Mindset How to Stay FocusedWhen Everything Is on Fire Crisis focus is a different skill from normal focus. When everything feels urgent, the usual prioritisation frameworks break down — not because they’re wrong, but because the emotional load of the situation overwhelms the logical process. Here’s how to stay effective when … Read more
Free Playbook · Founder Mindset How to DelegateWithout Losing Quality Most founders delegate too late, delegate badly, and then use the bad results as evidence that delegation doesn’t work. The problem isn’t delegation — it’s the handoff. Here’s the system that lets you remove yourself from work without the work getting worse. What’s in this … Read more
Free Playbook · Founder Mindset How to Manage Your Board and InvestorsWithout Losing Control Taking institutional money changes the relationship. You now have people with legal rights, financial stakes, and strong opinions about how you run the company. The founders who stay in control aren’t the ones who fight their boards — they’re the ones … Read more
Free Playbook · Founder Mindset The Founder’s Guide toManaging Your Own Energy Time management is the wrong frame for founders. You don’t have a time problem — you have an energy problem. The same 2 hours of strategic thinking done at peak energy produces better decisions than 6 hours done depleted. Here’s how to manage … Read more
Free Playbook · Founder Mindset How to Stop MakingDecisions Alone The most expensive decisions most founders make are the ones they made alone, at speed, under pressure, without anyone to push back. Building a decision support system — advisors, a thinking partner, structured prompts — isn’t a sign of weakness. It’s the single highest-leverage investment … Read more