Keith Rabois explains โFounder Modeโ and its similarities to how PayPal was run in the early days At PayPal, promotions werenโt about managingโthey were about mastery. The best designer led design. The best engineer led engineering. No middle managers. No corporate ladder-climbing. Just experts leading experts. This approach isnโt new, but itโs making a comeback. Airbnb is cutting middle management. Paul Grahamโs โFounder Modeโ went viral. Elon Musk slashed Xโs headcount by 80% and promoted top performers to leadership. Apple has done this for years. They donโt promote generalists. They promote the best in the world at their craft. Thatโs how they built greatness. But what if your top performer isnโt a natural leader? Promote them anyway. Train them. Mentor them. At least your team will respect them because they earned it. Now flip the scenario. You hire an outsider whoโs never built, never sold, never done the workโand make them the boss. The team asks, Who the hell is this? And theyโre right. The lesson? Promote builders. Train them to lead. But never let managers outrank masters. Follow Vishu Bheda for more valuable startup insights from the world's best founders!
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