In the journey of building a company, few distinctions are as culturally defining and often overlooked as the one between the Founder and the Founding Employee Mindset.
While both roles are instrumental for the inception and growth of the company, the core belief systems they embody can be worlds apart. And in these contrasting belief systems lies the seed of an organisation’s future culture, financial prudence, and decision-making framework.
The Core Narrative: “Jaagir” vs “Amanat”
The organizational growth transcends to value creation based on the leadership mindset, for instance
- Is the founder’s mindset that of a jaagirdaar – “I am the company, and the company exists because of me” or Amanat
- And, In contrast, the founding employee mindset often treats the company as an amanat – “We are building something greater than ourselves. The teams, the founders, everyone exists to serve the organization’s mission and purpose”.
These two lenses – ownership vs stewardship can fundamentally shift how choices are made in critical moments.
Organisation-Centric vs Founder-Centric Thinking
When founders see themselves as the reason for the company’s existence, decision-making tends to be deeply personalised. The company reflects the founders’ ego, values, and instincts.
This can lead to passionate leadership, but also creates a blind spot for objective decisions & diverse perspectives, merit-based delegation, or exit strategies. Founders may, for instance, delay hard pivots or ignore red flags simply because the original idea was “theirs.”
Founding employees, on the other hand, often view the company as an entity bigger than any individual.
Their focus lies in protecting the sanctity of the system, building processes, and ensuring that the institution outlasts any person. Their ego isn’t tied to the idea, but to its execution and success even if it means altering the initial course.
Real-Life Echoes
Case 1: Global Logistics Company
Wherein, one of the co-founders, led with the mentality that the company was an extension of his will. It helped in building a dominant market leader but also led to toxic culture, regulatory battles, and internal strife. When the other co-founder took over, he approached the role as a trustee, not as a creator. The shift in mindset – from jaagir to amanat, ushered in governance, brand repair, and eventual IPO-readiness.
Case 2: Indian FinTech Start-up
The founder’s stint illustrates how founder-centric culture, when unchecked, can lead to public fallout, reputation risk, and governance breakdown. The eventual clean-up required the founding team and board to reassert that the company is not a personal playground and is an amanat of shareholders, employees, and customers alike.
Decision-Making: Impulse vs System
Founder-led decision-making is often fast, instinctive, and emotionally charged. It allows for speed but can compromise on checks, especially as the company grows. Founding employees tend to build systems, dashboards, OKRs, review loops that reduce dependency on individual brilliance.
Financial Prudence
A founder may rationalise lavish spending or risky bets as “visionary” because they see themselves as the driver of future success. Financial decisions can sometimes be influenced by personal aspirations or a desire for rapid, high-profile growth, even at the expense of sustainable practices. The line between company funds and personal resources can blur.
The ‘Amanat’ perspective, however, instills a deep sense of fiscal responsibility. Every penny is seen as a resource entrusted to the organization, demanding careful stewardship and strategic allocation for the company’s sustained growth and mission fulfillment. A founding employee, mindful that the money belongs to investors and the organisation, is more likely to stress prudence, sustainability, and long-termism.
Few examples could be:
- Blurring of business travel V/S personal travel
- Purchase of assets such as smartphones, computers and other fixtures through company for personal use
- Splurging company money for dining & lodging
Growth Prospects
The ultimate impact of these differing mindsets is profoundly felt in a company’s growth trajectory.
A ‘Jaagir’ driven organization, while potentially achieving initial bursts of success, may find scalability challenging. Its reliance on a single individual can create bottlenecks and fragility. The departure of key people can shake its very foundation.
Conversely, a company built on the ‘Amanat’ principle is inherently more resilient and scalable. It fosters a culture of shared ownership, attracts top talent who resonate with a larger purpose, and builds robust systems that can withstand individual changes.
Culture Setting: From Day One
Whether a founder sees the company as jaagir or amanat is evident in how early-stage teams are hired, compensated, and empowered.
Are they treated like loyalists or like stewards? Does the founder hoard decision-making, or actively set up systems that outlive them?
Founders who communicate a narrative of collective ownership, even while maintaining vision and accountability, create resilient organisations.
Final Thought: Instilling the growth and value driven mindset
Understanding this fundamental difference between being the owner v/s steward is paramount.
While both the schools of thought are evident across the ecosystem, founders at the outset must make the choice of what DNA would they seek to instill in their organisation and lead by example (Top – Down Approach rather than approaching Bottom-Up)
To every entrepreneur reading this, remember – you are not the company. You are its custodian. Yes, its first champion, certainly. But if your ego becomes inseparable from the entity, you will one day either suffocate its growth or get consumed by its fall.
Instead, lay the foundation as if you’re building something sacred. Invite founding employees not just as doers, but as co-custodians. Create a belief system where the organisation outshines every individual.
The mindset you cultivate today will be the bedrock of your organization’s culture. Do you want to build a monument to yourself, or a robust institution that can thrive independently of any single individual?
Because while founders start companies, every single person in the team matters.
Author
Karan Gupta
