When you become a bigshot founder of a scaleup, your every word and behavior is closely observed and acted on.

This gives you the power to do a lot of good, and the power to do a lot of damage.

I've started working with some incredible scaleups that are each, in their own right, changing the world.

Part of my work, however, includes working with founders to adjust their engagement with the expanding team so that their superpowers are used in the best, most constructive way possible.

As a founder in this position, you must move from "getting shit done" to "building the thing that builds the thing". This means that your primary strategic levers to drive change are not cutting code or running products, but rather explicitly defining a great culture, communicating high-level business priorities, establishing effective ways of working, and funding teams to succeed.

The primary way you tactically interact with individuals day-to-day moves from telling them what to do, towards reviewing work and encouraging everyone to be more aligned, more ambitious, and more effective in their decision-making.

By doing this, you show your team that it's their job to come up with bold answers that move the needle, and you give them the space to do their very best work.

It's hard to make the switch, but make it you must, or you will ultimately thrash your team and deliver sub-optimal results.