Startups are ridiculously hard and success is illusive. Advice about what it takes to be a successful founder is in plentiful supply — from founders (current and former), investors (most who have never been a founder themselves), consultants (selling the dream) and the media (parroting the rest and amplifying survivor bias.)
Here’s a list of personal traits and predilections of founders that are oft cited as difference makers for startup success — often “the” difference maker? I’ve given this some thought over the years and have written about it a couple of times as well. The conclusion I came to is that some of these are founder virtues that really can improve the probability of startup success… and some are vices, i.e., they can cause much more trouble for a startup than is obvious.
But I want to know what you think. Where do you land on these?
