""Here we go again, I thought", as I listened to the board member tell me how frustrated he was with the founder of one of their venture firm's most promising investments. Sadly, I knew the call was likely too late to prevent an inevitable cascade of emotional and financial consequences. Working as an executive coach in Silicon Valley with venture capital firms and the companies where they have placed their investments means being at the confluence of high-stakes financial and career risk."
"How Identity Shapes What Founders See and Do As an individual contributor in a company, a manager/ leader of others, or as a start-up founder, you're obliged to understand the requirements of your role and ensure that how you see yourself, your identity, meets the demands of that role. Our identity acts as a filter to prioritize what we pay attention to and what we ignore; what is critically important and what is of little interest."
Founder identity determines attention and priorities, acting as a filter that shapes decision-making. Startup founders often begin as creative innovators with confidence, perseverance, passion, risk tolerance, and bias for action. As ventures scale, founders must adopt additional identities: business builder and organizational leader, to manage operations, finance, teams, and stakeholder expectations. Failure to evolve identity produces blindspots where founders overlook essential managerial and leadership responsibilities, risking emotional and financial consequences. Executive coaching and venture oversight frequently encounter misalignments between founder identity and company needs. Proactive identity development supports sustainable growth, reduces role conflicts, and aligns behavior with evolving organizational demands.
Read at Psychology Today
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