The Founder's Paradox

• The Founder's Paradox is that a company needs a unique, often strange founder to achieve true greatness, but this reliance on a singular individual is also a great risk.
• Impersonal bureaucracies, while stable, tend to act with short time horizons and are incapable of the bold, visionary leaps required to create new value.
• A unique founder can make authoritative decisions, inspire intense loyalty, and plan for the long term in a way no professional manager can.
• The story of Steve Jobs at Apple is the ultimate example: the company nearly failed after he was pushed out by professional managers, and its ascent to become the world's most valuable company was driven by his singular vision upon his return.
• This suggests that the most innovative companies often resemble monarchies more than modern, "flat" organizations.