Paul Graham argues a founder's primary job is solving important problems rather than absorbing company pain

There is something to this. There's definitely a "buck stops here" element to being a founder. But I think it's going slightly too far to say it's your number one job. Your number one job is to solve the important problems, and pain and importance are not perfectly correlated.

@paulg I don't know many early stage companies where any sane person who would be capable of doing the job wants the responsibility set of the top job. Many days including the person who has it.

@paulg the pain importance gap is real

founders often solve what hurts most instead of what matters most the hard part is knowing the difference

@paulg Hire people to deal with irate customers and to fire people.

What do you think about the leadership part of being a founder?

Actions towards challenging the status quo (building something new or changing something) will inevitably result in pain or at least some friction. Yet (unless you are a solopreneur), you have to deal with other people with different pain thresholds.

Is it then more about the inspirational vision of the founder which offsets the pain, or is it about absorbing pain to the necessary degree?

@paulg Yeah I feel that. Important problems don't always scream the loudest, but they're what actually move the needle long term.

@paulg that was obviously a bait

@paulg Not correlated, sure, but pretty close anyway. The thing is you can’t hide issues ever ever ever or it explodes in your face. Funny and exhausting

@paulg Pain and importance are not perfectly correlated. 👍

@eastdakota This reminds me, there’s a Mexican urban saying along the lines of “entrepreneurship is eating shit without wincing”

@eastdakota #cloudflare 🫡

@paulg founders love the buck stops here bit bc it lets them stay busy without shipping anything important

@paulg Thank you, PG

@paulg Spot on—identifying truly important problems is key, and AI could become a founder's best ally in distinguishing crucial challenges from just painful ones.

@paulg but doesnt the buck stopping thing decide which problems even count as yours to solve in the first place

@paulg Yeah true. If you only solve painful stuff you miss the strategic moves that actually matter long term.