I have a question: What is founder mode, anyway?
It might sound like a dumb question after the tech industry’s nonstop (or ad nauseum, depending on your perspective) discussion about it over the long Labor Day weekend, prompted by an essay written by Y Combinator cofounder Paul Graham.
Companies can be run in two ways, “founder mode” and “manager mode,” Graham wrote, citing a recent talk by Airbnb cofounder Brian Chesky as his inspiration. Founder mode is clearly better, Graham argued—founders should be more involved in the weeds of their companies, not less.
Okay, but what actually constitutes a founder-mode company? Can any company operate in founder mode or is it only for startups? Can a company do founder mode if the founder is lousy—or lazy? And can a business leader toggle between founder and manager mode as easily as switching their phone ringer on or off? Where do women fit into the founder mode equation? Graham never expressly defines founder mode in his essay, and in the more than 72 hours of intense—and occasionally bizarre—online discourse that followed Graham’s essay, the topic seemed to take on a Rorschach test quality as people projected their own ideals onto Graham’s inkblot.
“It’s kind of a rallying cry,” said Jeremy Fiance, founder of The House Fund. “There’s an element here that’s about the battle between the public and private markets. There’s a ton of tension between public market financial investors, every VC out there who’s hoping for liquidity, and founders who thought they were going to be able to go public, but haven’t…This came out at a perfect time in which a lot of founders are beat up and looking for permission to unleash their instincts, persist, and get to the promised land.”
This is the season for rallying cries, as Silicon Valley’s tech leaders link arms with the like-minded and square up against ideological foes in politics, culture, and anything else. Why not management philosophy too? In that sense, founder mode is more of a vibe than a formula.
And it resonates for a reason. Behind closed doors, I’ve talked to so many founders who have felt pressured to become someone else as their companies grew, sometimes even becoming victims of their own success. Ultimately, the volume on founder mode talk has gotten turned so far up so fast because it’s existential.
“I can certainly understand why [founder mode is] tantalizing to founders, who traditionally always have had difficulty letting go of areas of their business,” M13 partner Matt Hoffman told Term Sheet via email.
Rahul Vohra, CEO and founder of email juggernaut Superhuman, echoed this sentiment:
“It was the right message at the right time, and PG [Paul Graham] put into words something that many of us have been thinking about for a long time,” Vohra wrote to me.
If there’s ambiguity in the concept of founder mode, that may be a key part of Graham’s point—that we actually don’t deeply understand what makes a successful founder successful. After all, as Graham points out, we haven’t substantially studied how a founder in charge of a rapidly scaling company can maximize their leadership capabilities, along with their startup’s potential. It’s not part of the business school curriculum. It’s something a founder needs to figure out, as Superhuman’s Vohra seems to have.
“I made a big change at Superhuman which made it easier for me to be in founder mode even as we scale, which was to hire a President,” Vohra noted. “It is way more joyous, we ship way faster, and it’s unlocking a new level of growth for us.”
See you Monday,
Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Nina Ajemian curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.
VENTURE DEALS
- MirrorWeb, an Austin, Texas-based digital communications archiving, supervision, and surveillance software, raised $63 million in funding from Mainsail Partners.
- Thatch, a San Francisco, Calif.-based health benefits platform, raised $38 million in Series A funding. General Catalyst and Index Ventures led the round and were joined by SemperVirens, The General Partnership, existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Avid Ventures, and others.
- Cobre, a Bogotá, Colombia-based corporate treasury and payments platform, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Oak HC/FT led the round and was joined by existing investors Kaszek, QED, and Canary.
- Mantel Capture, a Cambridge, Mass.-based carbon capture system, raised $30 million in Series A funding. Shell Ventures and Eni Next led the round and were joined by Engine Ventures, New Climate Ventures, Hartree, and others.
- Sedric AI, a New York City-based AI compliance platform for financial institutions, raised $18.5 million in Series A funding. Foundation Capital led the round and was joined by Amex Ventures and existing investors StageOne Ventures, The Garage, and others.
- CytoTronics, a Boston, Mass.-based semiconductor-based platform for cell biology discovery, raised $13.5 million in a seed extension. LYFE Capital and existing investor Anzu Partners led the round and were joined by Legend Star, RIT Venture Fund, Draper Associates, existing investor BoxOne Ventures, and others.
- Entalpic, a Paris, France-based generative AI platform for materials discovery in the chemical industry, raised €8.5 million ($9.4 million) in seed funding. Breega, Cathay Innovation, and Felicis led the round and were joined by Jörg Weiser, Gilles Wainrib, Thomas Wolfe, and others.
- Acuvity, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AI security and governance platform, raised $9 million in seed funding. Foundation Capital led the round and was joined by Basil Alwan, Sri Reddy, Jonathan Siddharth, and others.
- Circadian Health, a West Palm Beach, Fla.-based virtual cardiometabolic provider, raised $7.5 million in funding. HC9 Ventures led the round and was joined by Memorial Hermann. Health System.
- All Hands AI, a Boston, Mass.-based open source AI agent for software developers, raised $5 million in seed funding. Menlo led the round and was joined by Pillar VC, Betaworks, Rebellion, and others.
- Arvo, a São Paulo, Brazil-based healthcare transactions AI platform, raised R$ 25 million ($4.5 million) in funding. Canary and K50 funds led the round and were joined by Latitud, Preface, and Endeavor Scale-Up Ventures.
- Trestle, a New York City-based construction management software provider, raised $2.3 million in pre-seed funding. Lerer Hippeau led the round and was joined by MetaProp, Laconia Capital, Alumni Ventures, and others.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Alpha Financial Markets Consulting, backed by Bridgepoint Group, acquired White Marble Consulting, a London, England-based marketing consultancy firm for asset management, wealth management, and alternatives clients. FInancial terms were not disclosed.
- Apax Partners acquired a majority stake in Altus Fire & Life Safety, a New York City-based fire and life safety services provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Audax Strategic Capital acquired a minority stake in Amtivo, a London, England-based certification and quality assurance company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Charlesbank Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in Front Row Group, a New York City-based e-commerce agency and accelerator for beauty, health, wellness, and consumer brands. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- ECI Software Solutions, backed by Leonard Green & Partners, acquired Khameleon Software, a Terrace, Fla.-based ERP software company. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- GTCR acquired AssetMark Financial Holdings, a Concord, Calif.-based wealth management technology platform for financial advisors. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Perpetual Capital Partners acquired Novatech, a Nashville, Tenn.-based business technology solutions provider. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Schneider Geospatial, a portfolio company of Align Capital Partners, acquired Systems Development Group, a Barneveld, N.Y.-based IT and software services provider for local governments. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Team Air Distributing, a portfolio company of Kian Capital, acquired Best Choice Supply, a Lexington, Ky.-based HVAC wholesale distributor. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe acquired a majority stake in EquiLend, a New York City-based technology, data and analytics company for the securities finance industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- WindRose Health Investors acquired a majority stake in MyndYou, a New York City-based AI solutions provider for healthcare. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- Bishop Street Underwriters, a portfolio company of RedBird Capital Partners, acquired Conifer Insurance Services, a Troy, Mich.-based specialty commercial managing general agency, from Conifer Holdings. Financial terms were not disclosed.
PEOPLE
- Brighton Park Capital, a Greenwich, Conn.-based private equity firm, added TJ Williams as an operating partner. Previously, he was at Degreed.
- Vestar Capital Partners, a New York City-based private equity firm, promoted Caroline Ptacek to vice president.
