What qualities do you think a founder should have?
There are founders you’d love to NOT work for. And then there are founders whose company you wouldn’t want to leave, no matter what.
A big part of that comes down to people, their values, and their character.
And often, that starts with the founder.
So what makes a great founder?
For me:
– Being ambitious and thinking big
– Being disciplined and leading by example
– Staying curious and always moving with the times – or even staying ahead of them
– Being able to inspire people around them
– Having natural authority and being more of a leader than a manager
– Making tough decisions, even under pressure
– Surrounding themselves with people who are better than them in certain areas
– Being transparent, even when things don’t go according to plan
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Replies
Scade.pro
Founders should be :
motivated
passionate and positive
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@maria_anosova I sometimes lack all of 3 :D
money in the bank
rich friends
no distractions in life
good timing
luck
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@robert_douglass Essentials! :D
I think founders need a mix of resilience and curiosity more than anything else. Skills can be learned, strategies can change, and markets can shift, but the ability to keep going when things don’t work — while staying open enough to learn and adapt — matters a lot. I’d also add consistency. A lot of people focus on big ideas, but showing up every day and making small improvements compounds over time.
Curious what others think: if you had to pick just one quality, what would it be?
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@kamrankhan I think that the founder should hold that vision pretty tightly, because when others are not motivated, he should be that one who sparks the flame.
The quality I find most underrated: calibrated confidence under uncertainty. Not just "making tough decisions under pressure" (which is on Nika's list), but something more specific — knowing precisely which of your assumptions are load-bearing and which aren't, and being able to act anyway.
Coming from structured finance, this is the discipline deal work forces on you. A financial model for a large transaction has 20 sensitivity scenarios, but you still close on Monday. What you build over time isn't certainty — it's the ability to sort your unknowns into categories: risks that are hedged, residual risks you've sized and priced in, and genuine blind spots you can't quantify. Good founders have the same cognitive architecture applied to their market and product.
It prevents both failure modes: analysis paralysis (waiting for certainty that never arrives) and blind confidence (shipping without knowing which assumptions are actually load-bearing). The founders I've seen build durable things could do a real-time stress test on their own thesis and still commit. That's rarer than ambition or discipline, and harder to teach.
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@samir_asadov This very much depends, most people do not know what to do and how to scale, but they will learn it through trying or, if not trying, hiring people with experience :)
@busmark_w_nika Totally fair — and honestly that "learn by trying or hire it" lens is what I see again and again in M&A founders too. The ones that scale aren't necessarily the smartest; they're the ones who recognize fast where their judgment ends and bring in someone whose judgment starts. The trap is when founders confuse "I figured it out" with "we figured it out as a team."
Being able to be part of the team - that was something that I experienced with my first CEO (he was the founder as well), and I genuinely enjoyed working with him. It was an amazing experience that set my expectations towards CEOs and founders in general
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@sk_uxpin We all wish to experience this, so we can pass on it further.
@busmark_w_nika hahaha, yeah, can't agree more - that's an amazing feeling and experience
I’d add emotional steadiness too — the ability to stay clear, fair, and constructive when things get messy. Ambition and vision matter a lot, but people really remember how a founder behaves under pressure. That’s often what turns a strong company into one people genuinely want to stay with. 👏
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@alpertayfurr emotional steadness and stability is something I need to learn, not gonna lie :D
@busmark_w_nika Honestly same, I think most founders learn it the hard way 😄 The goal probably isn’t to be calm all the time, but to recover faster, communicate clearly, and not let pressure leak into the team too much.
The list is really good. I think something is missing. Being okay with being wrong in front of people is key.
Great founders change their minds when they see proof. They say it loud and clear. Don't try to defend their old ideas. This founder quality affects teamwork. How fast a company adapts to problems.
Being a leader and making decisions is crucial.. If founders aren't okay with being wrong publicly, it doesn't matter. That's what matters most about founders and their leadership.
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@varun_dhamija1 I like founders who admit that they are not always 100% :)
App Finder
Good list. I'd add that a founder should be approachable for the people in the team, even regarding things outside of work.
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@konrad_sx How can this be handled when the team is 50+ people? Because this can apply to very small teams, I think.
App Finder
@busmark_w_nika Yeah I meant this for small teams...
I love it when founders are motivated and passionate. They can set the tone for everyone in an organization and rally the troops so to speak.
Nothing replaces that!! I try to embody this in my own startup now
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@blakeatvassant Who is such founder like that?
@busmark_w_nika One leader I respect a lot is David Velez of NuBank. He's present on many podcasts. I highly recommend you listen to one if you're interested!
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@blakeatvassant I am putting this in my list :)
I come from a consulting background, so everything for me is usually process oriented. How to improve that, how to optimize this, etc. In my small startup team leading marketing efforts, I found that being ok with a lack of documented process is crucial. Being lean is essential so you can live within your means. Be comfortable wearing multiple hats. And finally, thinking outside the box to leverage your supporting community and different success routes can make the difference in getting your idea off the ground.
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@milescward this sound to me a little bit like social media role :D