"An early-stage investor shared his experience in identifying founders, and it really resonated. Sharing my thoughts on each point: 1. Speed is made up of rate Good founders are those who hold the roadmap, constantly optimizing and adjusting the path and rhythm, always pursuing the optimal pace/path. 2. Speed is made up of direction The speed of progress is determined by direction. Accelerating in the right direction versus accelerating in the wrong direction leads to completely different outcomes—one drives rapid business growth, while the other accelerates resource depletion and leads to shutting down. 3. Mission alignment If it's just about financial goals, it's easy to give up halfway. You need something mission-driven to motivate yourself through the feedback cycles. 4. Seek advice and integrate it Listening or not listening is an art, but you must actively seek external perspectives and create an environment where external voices can be heard. Then, process and integrate those inputs, filter out the noise, and extract what works for you. 5. Brick-by-brick hiring Unicorn founders treat every early employee as foundational. They run a thoughtful process to find the best person in the world for each role—not just picking the "closest available" person from their existing network (unless they truly are the best). The foundation built by the first ten employees determines everything that follows. A single bad hire in a key early position can have compounding negative effects. Doing this well means the team itself becomes a competitive moat." #StartupTips #FounderWisdom #Entrepreneurship