Starting a business often means wearing a lot of different hats. A founder may be the person with the original idea, the person making the big decisions, the person managing employees, and sometimes the person doing tasks that nobody else has time to handle. However, as a business grows, those roles can start to conflict with each other. This is what Wasserman explores through the idea of role dilemmas in The Founder’s Dilemmas.
One of the biggest challenges for founders is recognizing that being the founder does not necessarily mean being the best person for every role in the company. Early on, it can make sense for a founder to handle almost everything. They know the vision, understand the customer, and are willing to do whatever needs to be done. The problem comes when the business grows and the skills needed to operate the company change. The person who was the perfect founder at the beginning may not necessarily be the best person to manage every part of the business later on.
Wasserman (2012) explains that founders can face difficult decisions when their personal role in the company does not match what the company needs. This can be especially difficult because a role is not just a job description. It can be tied to a founder’s identity, control, and sense of ownership. Giving someone else responsibility for an area of the business can feel like giving up part of what made the business yours in the first place.
This is especially relevant to me because I have a pretty clear picture of the type of business I would eventually like to build. My long-term idea is a farm-to-table distillery and restaurant that combines agriculture, spirits, food, hospitality, and a strong local identity. I can already see myself wanting to be involved in many parts of the business because each part would connect back to the overall vision. However, that does not mean I would personally be the best person to run every department.
For example, I would want to have a strong understanding of the brand, customer experience, and overall direction of the company. At the same time, I would need people with much deeper expertise in areas such as agriculture, distilling, restaurant operations, and finance. I could try to control all of those areas, but that could ultimately limit the business. A strong founder needs to recognize where their own skills are most valuable and where someone else’s expertise can make the company stronger.
I also think role dilemmas become more complicated when the business is something that a founder is personally passionate about. It would be easy for me to think that because I started the business, I should have the final say in everything. But ownership and responsibility are not always the same thing. If I eventually have a management team, I would want to give those people enough authority to actually lead their areas rather than simply making them responsible for carrying out my decisions.
The biggest lesson I take from Wasserman’s discussion of role dilemmas is that founders have to be willing to separate their identity from every individual role in the business. Building a successful company does not mean proving that I can do everything myself. It means knowing where I can contribute the most and surrounding myself with people who can fill the gaps. For me, that would mean staying closely connected to the vision while being willing to let other people become experts and leaders in the areas where they can help the business grow.
Reference
Wasserman, N. (2012). The founder’s dilemmas: Anticipating and avoiding the pitfalls that can sink a startup. Princeton University Press.