Well, you can’t really be a great founder-CEO without having a fairly high degree of self-confidence (as well as self-doubt). After all, you’re most likely doing something others see as impossible, stupid, unlikely, way too niche, or impractical. Otherwise, it’d already be done.
What tends to happen as leaders mature, especially from their first start-up to their second … is the ego becomes around the team, the product, and the company. And not/ much less about themselves. And then ego sort of turns into pride, once it’s not about you.
The beauty of being a founder is that you get leverage on your equity from am amazing team. Hire the best possible VPs in the world, once you hit Initial Traction … and your equity can quadruple in value almost overnight.
So you can maximize your own returns most effectively by inspiring great people to join you. The only way to do that is to be on a journey together. There are different ways to take this journey — benign despotism vs. collaboration.
But over time, often, ego gives way, especially in B2B, to pride.
Nothing wrong with being proud of your team, your customers, your product, your position in the market, and your journey.
