The ego might be the most dangerous thing in startups. A founder’s ego to be precise.
I mean, why even start something so excruciatingly hard unless there was some part of ego at play - either to show the world something can be done where others are skeptical or to prove certain people wrong. Or to just show yourself you’re capable of more.
Of course we wrap in in nice packages of mission and and motive and business model. But at the core lies the founder ego.
And it's dangerous. Because it's the ego that want to raise a lot of money. To get the splashy press covers. To do the panels and the the podcast tours. The ego wants to be recognized dammit.
You know what the ego doesn’t like? Talking to users. Doing things that don’t scale. Delving to the most mundane and minute of tasks to serve the people. That feels below the ego. Like we should have people to do that. And more simply, the truth hurts the ego. Cuts it down to size.
Everyday I fight a littler battle with my ego to put it into place. Because a little bit goes a long way. It helps me wake up and go do things in the face of absurd odds. It insulates me from all the people constantly tell me it cant be done and that I should move on. It cushions me from the world of disbelief and keeps me wrapped in the future distortion field.
But it can also get weird inside that distortion field if the ego isn’t kept in check or if it's allowed to extend too far into that bubble.
It needs to stay at the edge of the outside and the inside world, gamely playing bouncer duty but not impacting the real work getting done.
This real work needs to be done with Curiosity and Humility and Clear Eyes. But they're quieter souls. Unwilling to engage in a shouting match with Ego. They'll be there, ready to do some work but they're not willing to compete with the loud mouth attention guy.
I try to remind myself this everyday. And a lot of days I can get it right. But then there are days that Ego gets tired of waiting in the wings. Of siting in the corner biding time. Then Ego bursts out and says we “deserve” this or: Won’t it be great to go raise that. That'll show them all.
No. It wont. It'll just feed Ego. What will show them all is my users raving. Paying. Engaging.
Being a founder is such a game of careful balance. Too little and you never become extraordinary. Too much and you miss the point, always skimming the surface of value, never diving deep into the ocean of impact.
A daily ritual or acknowledgment and acceptance. A daily dance of self awareness and practicality.
So let Ego needs to be able to sit in the bus, but never in the driver’s seat.
Instead let Curiosity and Persistence and Hard Work take turns at the wheel.