4 ms·

Can a failed, or mildy successful, founder jump to the exec track and get some level of success faster than if they had just set out on that path to begin with?

Can a failed, or mildy successful, founder jump to the exec track and get some level of success faster than if they had just set out on that path to begin with? I’m thinking of those people who have run a business for 3+ years before it tanks or who are looking for a new thing and just decide to leave

k__ 9y ago
Isn't this the default route for failed founders? I know a bunch of them now leading some divisions or branch offices.
- simonbarker87 9y ago
  Was thinking the default route would be to try again but if they didn’t would it be a faster way to climb to exec
  - k__ 9y ago
    I don't know... It seemed to me that most people aren't 'serial entrepreneurs' they just heard of the success of SF tech founders, tried it at home, failed, marked it as something they weren't made for, went for a simpler job. Also, some get a family and start to avoid risk.
- wolco 9y ago
  Or successful founders who get bought out at under 20 million. Usually they spend a few years as head of a product or vp without resposibility before trying to recreate there initial success
milofeynman 9y ago
That's what the failed founder at the startup I work at just did.
mwseibel 9y ago
Yes - happens a lot
trjordan 9y ago
I did that, sort of. But I was an exec(ish) before I founded a company. I think founding a company helped my career, but not necessarily faster than working on a similar exec-level track for 2 years. Reading this article was interesting to me. I really bristled at the descriptions of founder and employee, but exec feels comfortable. I really enjoy owning a set of responsibilities that's not redundant with anybody else in the organization, and I enjoy working on internal relationships in order to help everybody get their work done better ("politics"). Maybe at some point I'll found another company, because that pressure really does force you to confront the weakest parts of your professional skillset. I learned a ton about myself by doing it.

k__ 9y ago

Isn't this the default route for failed founders? I know a bunch of them now leading some divisions or branch offices.

simonbarker87 9y ago
Was thinking the default route would be to try again but if they didn’t would it be a faster way to climb to exec
- k__ 9y ago
  I don't know... It seemed to me that most people aren't 'serial entrepreneurs' they just heard of the success of SF tech founders, tried it at home, failed, marked it as something they weren't made for, went for a simpler job. Also, some get a family and start to avoid risk.
wolco 9y ago
Or successful founders who get bought out at under 20 million. Usually they spend a few years as head of a product or vp without resposibility before trying to recreate there initial success

milofeynman 9y ago

That's what the failed founder at the startup I work at just did.

mwseibel 9y ago

Yes - happens a lot

trjordan 9y ago

I did that, sort of. But I was an exec(ish) before I founded a company. I think founding a company helped my career, but not necessarily faster than working on a similar exec-level track for 2 years. Reading this article was interesting to me. I really bristled at the descriptions of founder and employee, but exec feels comfortable. I really enjoy owning a set of responsibilities that's not redundant with anybody else in the organization, and I enjoy working on internal relationships in order to help everybody get their work done better ("politics"). Maybe at some point I'll found another company, because that pressure really does force you to confront the weakest parts of your professional skillset. I learned a ton about myself by doing it.