On Leadership and Our Future
Hey everyone,
I’ve been speaking with experienced founders and VCs this week. One thing keeps coming up: when everyone owns everything, no one owns anything.
The data is clear. Companies with many co-founders fail more often. Not because of talent or misalignment, but because every decision becomes a negotiation. Priorities get diluted. Execution slows. The product suffers.
VCs spot this instantly (red flag). They’ve seen the movie before: co-founder gridlock, no clear owner, no bold bets.
I don’t think we should aim to match VC’s expectations. One front where I don’t think we should concede is letting VC’s run the company. They push for “safe” growth, more salespeople, less technical risk. Innovation dies in board meetings.
But many successful tech and non-tech companies you see around you follow a pattern: a technical founder with enough control to make bold, unpopular decisions, which can fail big or, hopefully, succeed big.
My Proposal
We need one person clearly accountable for the vision. Someone who can say no to tempting acquisition offers, kill the wrong feature even if it’s 80% done, take the hit when things fail, and push through when others want to play it safe.
I’m going to write (my proposal of) THE PLAN, my vision for how we structure this project to go the distance.
THE PLAN will cover:
- Ownership & Structure: equity, governance, vesting, decision rights
- Incentives: compensation, risk/reward alignment, exit paths
- Execution: product direction, milestones, architecture
- Team: roles, responsibilities, conflict handling
- Fundraising: how we protect technical autonomy
If you trust me to lead this:
- I’ll be transparent with major decisions
- I’ll take the hard calls and own failures
- I’ll stay actively open to input, not just now, but always
- I’ll never forget that I need this team to win
I’ve learned from the last three years, from both our successes and our mistakes. I know what happens when leadership turns into control, when teams lose their voice. I don’t want that. This structure is not about power, it’s about clarity, accountability, and momentum.
The ship’s captain is not perfect or infallible, and he isn’t meant to be captain for life even. It is an attempt to face the fact that hard decisions and day-to-day steering have to be done by a leader, if not because that’s what you believe, because that’s what VC’s believe.
Next Steps
When you see THE PLAN, you’ll have three clear options:
YES – “Let’s build this. I trust the direction.” COUNTER – “Here’s my full alternative plan.” EXIT – “This isn’t for me. Let’s part as friends.”
In the meantime, if you disagree with any of what I wrote above, about the co-founder trap, or the need for clarity, I invite you to write your own vision and structure now. I’ll read every complete proposal with attention, and I still care in this occasion and in general to make sure I keep and we all keep listening.
Let’s keep momentum. Keep building. The pitch deck, technical docs, and “Why Amigos” doc all still matter.
This isn’t about talent. I trust every one of you. It’s about structure, and the opportunity to build something rare.
We move forward while we figure this out.
Manfred