I had a plan to step right into another COO role and help another founder build their big idea after I resigned from my last organization. Life had other ideas.

In this period, I took the time to understand why so many of the founders I worked with were building things that both they and their teams were proud of yet feeling worse, not better, as those visions began to scale.

I'd spent nearly two decades in founder-led rooms — first as a founder, then as an executive and COO at founder-led organizations. I've met some of the most brilliant people doing unquestionably meaningful work. Across the board, what I noticed (and felt) was an undertow of burnout, resentment, and stunted imagination that compounded as the organization continued to succeed.

So I started asking a different question. What if the way we've been building these businesses with big ideas is the actual problem?

I scoured my notes from the last 15+ years to find patterns and build a framework. Here's where I've landed: businesses are mini societies. The way we build them shapes the communities we send them into. And the choices a founder makes in year two echo long past year twenty.

The title is irreverent because the subject is serious. The cover is scribbled because the work is messy. The subtitle is the whole thing: the way we build matters as much as what we build.

I hope you’ll read it!

Krysta