From the moment Paul Graham dropped his essay on "founder mode," people online analyzed it like a stone tablet found bearing the new commandment of startupdom.
But there's one group that has been privately wrestling with "founder mode" since before it had a meme-able name: female founders.
Four female founders told Business Insider that a stark double standard prevents them from operating their startups as their male counterparts do.
Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd wrote on Instagram that she was "in founder mode for 10 years and got attacked for it every single day."
But unlike female founders, he and Neumann, the WeWork founder, enjoy the luxury of being given second chances by investors.
Persons:
Paul Graham, Tobias Lütke, Baron Davis, Jessica Lessin, Tim Cook, Satya Nadella, that's, There's, they'll, Amanda E, J Morrison, Julie Products, Adam Neumann, Sophia Amoruso, it's, Whitney Wolfe Herd, Morrison, We've, they're, Clara Brenner, They're, she's, Julie, Christie Horvath, Wagmo's, Horvath, there's, Anna Barber, Barber, Jenny Fielding, Fielding, Elon, Sara Mauskopf, Slack, Musk, Mauskopf, Neumann, It's, Ty Haney, athleisure —, Haney, Graham's
Organizations:
Service, Founders, Spotify, Urban Innovation Fund, CVS, M13 Ventures, Ventures, TechCrunch