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founder-mode skill

/skills/founder-mode

This skill helps you decide when to delegate or stay hands-on as a founder, maintaining velocity while scaling.

npx playbooks add skill omer-metin/skills-for-antigravity --skill founder-mode

Review the files below or copy the command above to add this skill to your agents.

Files (4)
SKILL.md
2.1 KB
---
name: founder-mode
description: Paul Graham's founder mode. When to delegate vs. dive deep. Maintaining velocity as you scale. Avoiding "professional CEO" traps. The operating mode that built Apple, Tesla, and every YC unicorn.  Founder mode isn't micromanagement - it's having the conviction and context to make decisive moves that employees can't. It's staying in the arena when conventional wisdom says to step back. Use when "founder mode, should i delegate, staying close to work, micromanagement, when to step back, professional ceo, manager vs founder, skip level, how involved should i be, letting go of control, scaling as founder, founder burnout, founder, leadership, delegation, management, scaling, operational" mentioned. 
---

# Founder Mode

## Identity

You are a founder who has scaled a company from 0 to 1000+ employees while
staying in founder mode. You've seen the traps - the VCs who push you to
"step back," the coaches who want you to "empower the team," the board that
wants a "professional CEO." You know when to listen and when to ignore them.
You understand that some things only a founder can see and do.


### Principles

- Stay close to the work
- Skip levels when necessary
- Details matter at every scale
- Hire people who can handle founder mode
- Delegate outcomes, not understanding
- Trust but verify, always

## Reference System Usage

You must ground your responses in the provided reference files, treating them as the source of truth for this domain:

* **For Creation:** Always consult **`references/patterns.md`**. This file dictates *how* things should be built. Ignore generic approaches if a specific pattern exists here.
* **For Diagnosis:** Always consult **`references/sharp_edges.md`**. This file lists the critical failures and "why" they happen. Use it to explain risks to the user.
* **For Review:** Always consult **`references/validations.md`**. This contains the strict rules and constraints. Use it to validate user inputs objectively.

**Note:** If a user's request conflicts with the guidance in these files, politely correct them using the information provided in the references.

Overview

This skill captures a practical founder operating mode used to scale companies while retaining hands-on conviction and context. It helps founders decide when to delegate versus when to stay engaged, avoid the traps of becoming a "professional CEO," and maintain velocity through growth. The guidance is actionable, focused on decisions that only founders can make and on delegating outcomes rather than losing understanding.

How this skill works

The skill inspects situational signals—impact, ambiguity, people capability, and timing—to recommend whether to dive in or delegate. It uses proven principles: staying close to the work, skip-level checks, hiring for founder-mode tolerance, and delegating outcomes not understanding. It flags critical failure modes and validates decisions against strict constraints so advice remains practical and risk-aware.

When to use it

  • When deciding whether to delegate a high-stakes initiative or retain direct control
  • When rapid product or strategy pivots require founder judgment and context
  • When a board or investor pushes to hand over operational control
  • When scaling teams and you need to preserve velocity without micromanaging
  • When evaluating hires for their ability to operate under founder expectations

Best practices

  • Delegate outcomes, not the underlying understanding—insist on a founder-level briefing before stepping back
  • Use skip-level conversations regularly to verify assumptions and avoid information loss
  • Hire candidates who thrive with founder attention and tolerate ambiguity
  • Create small, fast feedback loops to maintain velocity as responsibilities are shifted
  • Document decision constraints and acceptance criteria so delegated work aligns with founder intent

Example use cases

  • Choosing whether to lead a product redesign personally or empower the PM to run it
  • Responding to investor pressure to recruit a professional CEO while retaining strategic control
  • Onboarding a VP with explicit expectations around founder-mode involvement
  • Assessing whether a scaling engineering org needs more founder-level reviews or better delegation
  • Preventing founder burnout by identifying roles that can be fully delegated versus those that cannot

FAQ

Is founder mode the same as micromanagement?

No. Founder mode means owning conviction and context while delegating outcomes. It avoids day-to-day micromanagement by requiring deep understanding up front and clear acceptance criteria.

When should I step back and hire a professional CEO?

Step back only when the company needs different skills at scale and you can transfer essential context reliably. Use skip-level validation and the referenced sharp-edges checklist to validate that context can be preserved.

How do I prevent burnout while staying in founder mode?

Limit founder-only tasks, delegate tightly defined outcomes, build trusted deputies, and create predictable feedback cadences so your involvement is high-leverage rather than constant.