The person who starts a company isn't necessarily the person that company will need five years later. So can founders actually change?

Early on, a founder might be building the product themselves, solving technical problems, and proving that something works. But as the company grows, the job changes. Now it's about bringing in the right people, finding resources, telling the story, setting the vision, and leading an organization through the ups and downs.

In this episode of VHTB, Matt Gjertsen (Built), Justus Kilian (Space Capital), and Seyka Mejeur (AdAstra Talent Advisors) get into what it actually takes for founders to evolve as the demands of their companies change.

How do you hold onto the conviction that got you this far while still being willing to hear that you might be wrong? We talk about why curiosity and self-awareness matter, what investors and candidates can look for when deciding whether a founder is capable of evolving, and why "strong opinions loosely held" might be one of the better ways to think about founder leadership.

But growth also means letting go. Sometimes you're handing off something you're great at to someone who might not initially do it as well as you. Sometimes you're learning an entirely new set of skills because the company no longer needs the version of you that built its first stage. That "death of a past self" can be one of the hardest parts of becoming the leader your company needs next.

We also get into something that's easy to miss from the outside: being at the top can be lonely. Founders carry problems they can't always bring back to their teams, which makes trusted investors, other founders, spouses, and executive coaches important places to think, process, and be human without having to hold the strong face all the time.

Episode Highlights

[00:00] What does it take for a hard tech founder to change?

[02:08] Why the CEO role requires founders to continually evolve

[04:18] How do you balance founder conviction with a willingness to change?

[07:38] The self-awareness founders need as their companies grow

[10:46] How do you know when you're being too hardheaded?

[12:22] How candidates can tell if a founder is willing to change

[13:27] The role executive coaches can play beyond business strategy

[14:27] Why being at the top can be a lonely role

[16:07] Why founders have to change if they want their companies to grow

Episode Takeaways

• The CEO role changes as a company grows, and founders have to evolve with it.
• Conviction matters, but the best founders can take in new information without immediately discounting it.
• Founder change is most effective when it comes from within rather than being imposed from the outside.
• Curiosity and self-awareness are strong signals that someone is capable of continuing to grow.
• Every new stage of a company can require founders to let go of skills, responsibilities, and even parts of the identity that made them successful before.
• "Strong opinions loosely held" creates room for conviction and adaptability to exist at the same time.
• Candidates can learn a lot about a founder by asking when they last changed their mind because of new information.
• Founders need trusted people they can be open with because there are challenges at the top that can't always be shared with the broader team.
• If you want the company to grow, the person leading it has to be willing to grow too.

Subscribe to VHTB for more conversations on the talent, culture, and capital forces shaping the hard tech startup ecosystem.

Links & Resources

Space Capital: https://www.spacecapital.com/

BUILT: https://builtleaders.com/

AdAstra Talent Advisors: https://adastra.us/