Startups For the Rest of Us Episode 790 | From Scrappy to Scalable: Evolving Your Role as a Founder
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Aug 26, 2025 Yaniv Bernstein, co-founder and CTO of Violet and former Google leader, shares insights on the evolving role of a founder as a startup transitions to scale. He explores the necessity of changing management styles and emphasizes the importance of delegation and structured processes. Discussion highlights include recognizing when to hand off key roles, setting the right context for teams, and mastering hiring practices to foster effective team dynamics. Yaniv's journey from tech giant to startup challenges brings valuable lessons for founders navigating growth.
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Founder Role Changes With Scale
- The founder role fundamentally changes as the company scales and may become a liability if not adapted.
- Founders often either don't recognize the shift or can't let go when they do.
Google Founders' Advice Became Irrelevant
- Yaniv describes seeing Larry and Sergey give bad advice as Google grew, illustrating founders losing effective context.
- His team told him to 'ignore it,' showing how founders can become disconnected as orgs scale.
Add Minimum Viable Process
- Introduce minimum viable process early to support growth without creating bureaucracy.
- Treat people systems like code: add architecture, tests, and documentation to maintain velocity as you scale.
