If you work for an early stage startup, funded or otherwise, the perception you have of what a founders life is like is probably not accurate.
If you want to make a name for yourself, be a valuable member of the team and get pulled into the inner circle then try and find a way to be helpful, solve problems and stay positive regardless of what’s going on.
Any given day a founder is dealing with the below, so if they come off as intense, frustrated or distracted – it’s not personal, there is just a ton of shit to deal with.
Revenue momentum (or lack thereof)
Road map prioritization
Marketing / branding
Customer issues
Employee issues
Recruiting
Raising money / dealing with investors
BOD meeting prep / follow up
Cashflow / banks
Payroll
Operating model and performance to plan
Culture
Compensation (often their own as most founders don’t make nearly as much as you think)
Bank balance / runway
AP / AR flare ups
Back to back meetings all day everyday
Big issues – by nature, only big issues reach the top so everyday someone’s big issue bubbles up
Learning as they go (especially young founders, they haven’t done it before and likely didn’t know what they were signing up for)
This is just what I could think of in the five minutes I had. I’m not saying you should pity a founder, but what I am saying is if you want to do well in these environments, find a way to help take the above off their plate and realize there is more going on than whatever situation you’re dealing with that day.
So bring good energy and try to be helpful, it will go further than you know.