Andy Walsh argues founders keep making the same governance mistakes because they think hiring better people will fix things, not realizing they need concrete governance changes. A successful founder had a disaster and still believed the answer was just finding better talent, missing the real problem entirely.
Chapters
The point of this system is to fuck you over and then make you think it's your fault so that you don't become radicalized for reform. You just make the same mistake again. So I'm like, listen, let me help you with your next company. We'll make sure that doesn't happen to you again. And a lot of founders learn their lesson and they're like, yeah, okay, let's, we're doing it differently next time. But a lot of them, including very successful ones, I was sitting with one the other day and he was like, I was like, look, you're starting a new company. You got completely and royally screwed. In this like awful, it's one of the most horrible stories I know. We don't need to make sure that never happens to you again. What governance changes are you considering in the new company? And he literally looked at me like, like what? Like what? Like, is it to me, this is the most important thing on the planet that we make sure this never happens again. And he's like, yeah, I just need to like find better people this time.