The Full-Stack Startup Founder

Copyright Illai Gescheit

I love to work with 'Full-Stack Founders'.

You are probably familiar with the term full-stack developer, that developer who knows front-end, back-end, some data science, cloud architecture - they could build a whole working product from zero to one - in a way what vibe coding platforms like Lovable are doing today.

Now, think of the work of a startup founder especially in the early stages from idea to their early growth. A full-stack founder is like a Swiss knife of everything startups.

In a single day they can:

- Be the CEO of the company and make strategic decisions and raise funding from VCs.

- Be the CMO and run an ad campaign on Instagram and Google Ads, while talking with influencers and get them onboard to promote the product.

- Be the CPO and talk with customers, define product features and work with the developers and designers to define a set of features experiments and trade-offs.

- Be the CFO and update the P&L and financial projections, dealing with salaries and equity pool allocation.

- Be the COO and manage the relationship with the landlord of the space you rent for their labs.

They are able to switch modes a few times and think and operate as different function in a single meeting.

Full-stack founders are not experts in any of this, but they are full of curiosity, eagerness to learn and do whatever it takes to make their vision work. They are not afraid to fail in any of these modes, or ask for advice.

(My next post: how AI could help you become a full-stack startup founder)

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