Stacy L. Chin says founder ego kills startups, but not how you'd think. It shows up as defensiveness: ignoring customer feedback, dismissing investor concerns, blaming others when funding falls through. When ego takes over, founders stop learning.
Some of the smartest founders I've ever worked with are also some of the hardest to help. From my experience, founder ego rarely shows up as arrogance. Rather, it just kind of shows off as defensiveness. It's the founder who ignores customer feedback, dismisses the investor concerns, and blames the reviewer when the application just doesn't get funded because they don't get it. And the problem is that when your ego enters the room, your ability to learn often leads with it.
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