The Best Founders Always Speak Last

Whenever there is a problem or a decision to be made at a startup, conventional wisdom says the founder or CEO of the company should speak first. After all, the company will follow the founder’s lead, right? While that might make sense initially, it’s not the best way to build a business. In fact, founders should speak last - or perhaps not at all.If the founder speaks first, team members are more likely to just say “yes” and go along with what the founder thinks rather than thinking for themselves. Many times, founders don’t realize that the team members they like the most are just the ones who nod and agree. While it might feel good to have people agree with you, founders aren’t going to be right about everything; they need to be challenged.

To scale a company and make important decisions, it’s best to gather opinions from everyone at the table. You never know who might have a thought or idea that can unlock the key to solving a problem or answering a question. At times, starting with the youngest or most junior team members can be a good idea to build trust and get a variety of perspectives.

By asking the team’s opinions before sharing their own, founders can get their employees to buy into the company and take more ownership of the decisions being made. Employees will feel valued and know that they are contributing to the success of the business. This is also a good way to build alignment within the team.

If a founder is the first to voice their opinion, it takes away the discussion. It takes away different perspectives that other members of the team might have because they might assume that the founder’s idea is the right idea. It’s far too easy for people to be influenced by the bias of the founder, offering no alternative option or challenge whether the founder is right.

In short, founders need to go against their instincts to always be the leader and have everyone fall in line behind them. Different ideas and different perspectives should always be welcomed whenever a startup is making a key decision or charting a path forward. To allow team members to share their thoughts and contribute, founders must be willing to speak last, or perhaps not at all.

With first-hand experience as part of three different startups that scaled from 10 people to 10,000 people within three years, Roland Siebelink has a wealth of experience navigating the mid-stage.

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