Earning the Privilege of Working with Founders

Being a founder is one of the most lonely jobs on the planet. The Khosla folks are big on “earning the right“ to work with founders and came out with a post today about it I’ll lead with:

There isn’t a single degree or line on your resume that earns you the right to work with founders. The only thing that does is the experience of having done it yourself. If you have an MBA, have worked at some fancy firm, or think you’re really well networked, but have never started a company, I can tell you right now that you don’t have it.

There is a difference between “invest in“ and “work with“ by the way - you can passively pick investments if they need the money, but there’s a line of advice and control with founders that’s sacred that is in my mind (and of many others I’m around) is reserved for the folks who have done it, felt the same pain and loss, and also the same success. It’s just respect. The best founders in the world pick their cap table, and won’t have time for these folks who don’t respect it around the table.