The founder's curse
Are you building a business, or just a job for yourself?
As the founder of FalconHQ, I think a lot about building things. We pour our heart, our soul, our late nights into our creations. We become the engine. The go-to person. The one with all the answers.
It feels good, right? Essential. Needed.
But there’s a quiet trap here. Some call it the Founder's Curse.
It goes like this: The more vital you are to your business day-to-day, the less valuable your business actually is.
Read that again. It stings a little.
In the beginning, you have to be everything. Salesperson. Coder. Marketer. Cleaner. That’s survival. That’s grit. That's the founder's journey.
The danger comes later. When survival turns into habit. When being the hero stops the team from growing. When your fingerprints are so deep on everything, nothing moves without you.
Why did you start this? Was it just to be busy? To be the linchpin forever?
Or was it to build something? Something that could grow? Something that could maybe, one day, thrive even if you took a week off? Or a month?
If your business relies solely on you, what have you truly built? Is it a company? Or is it just a really demanding job that you happen to own?
The shift is hard. It means trusting. It means letting go. It means building systems, not just solving problems. It means empowering your people to make decisions – real decisions, even ones you might not make yourself.
It means seeing your role change. From player, to coach. From engine, to architect.
Your goal isn't to make yourself redundant. It's to make your presence less critical for daily operations. So you can focus on the bigger picture. The vision. The next thing.
Think about it. If you were to sell your business, what are buyers looking for? A machine that needs its master constantly tending to it? Or a robust system with a great team that runs, grows, and creates value?
Your greatest value as a founder isn't being the bottleneck. It's building something that flows without you. Something strong. Something lasting.
So ask yourself today: Are you the indispensable hero? Or are you building a legacy that can stand on its own?
The answer shapes not just the future value of your company, but the true meaning of your work. Let's build something bigger than ourselves.