Welcome to the Collective. Move over brat summer: it’s time for Founder

Mode Fall. And after the fall, it’ll be Spotify Wrapped season already.

Yesterday, we released our third podcast episode, featuring POSH Co-Founders Avante Price and Eli Taylor-Lemire. This episode could have easily been about how their event marketplace app has scaled with $95 million in bookings, 2 million users, and $31 million raised. But instead, it was a provocative conversation about Gen Z’s social habits and the future of offline interaction. Check out the episode here.

— Antonio DiMeglio & Leon Li

New Level Unlocked: Founder Mode

On Sunday, Y Combinator Co-Founder Paul Graham published an essay called “Founder Mode,” based off Airbnb Co-Founder and CEO Brian Chesky’s talk at Y Combinator in August. The essay’s release has become a canon event for founders globally, shifting founder focus toward more distinct management responsibilities in a way that has frankly become needed in a world of remote work and decentralized responsibilities.

Let’s break down the essay for those who haven’t read it:

1. Graham argues that traditional managerial advice—focused on hiring good people and giving them autonomy in “Manager Mode”—often backfires for founders. This advice suits professional managers but not founders, who are more effective when they remain deeply involved (“Founder Mode”) in their company’s operations 

2. In Founder Mode, CEOs break the conventional rule of only engaging with direct reports, instead holding meetings that allow the CEO to stay closely connected with the entire organization. This approach helps maintain the company’s original vision and culture from the ground-up, which is often diluted in Manager Mode.

3. While founders must delegate as their companies grow, Graham suggests that the boundaries of this delegation should be fluid, tailored to the company's needs and the trustworthiness of managers.

Our take? While Graham and Chesky highlight the importance of Founder Mode for preserving a company’s vision and effectiveness, implementing these principles in the remote work environment that top talent has begun to prefer to work in presents distinct challenges.

The deep, hands-on involvement required in Founder Mode is difficult to achieve when teams are dispersed, communication is often asynchronous, and company culture is harder to maintain without in-person interactions. We agree that Founder Mode sounds great in principle, but what is seen as “hands-on” in person may be seen as “micromanagement” online.

We’ll test out Founder Mode for ourselves and get back to you on the results.

Spotify Wrapped…Your Body?

Neko Health, co-founded by Spotify’s Daniel Ek, has officially launched in London, marking its first expansion outside of Sweden. The startup is revolutionizing preventative healthcare with full-body scans and AI-driven insights that detect conditions like heart disease and skin cancer. For £299, Londoners can now experience Neko’s one-hour health assessments, which provide millions of data points and personalized consultations with doctors.

Ek is the same Founder who used Spotify to understand our Music DNA, so should we trust him with our actual DNA? Here’s how Ek could use some of Spotify’s principles to his advantage at Neko:

1. Data Personalization: Just as Spotify revolutionized music discovery with personalized playlists, Neko can tailor health insights to individual users based on their unique health data profiles.

2. Hardware Integration: Just as Spotify seamlessly integrates across devices and platforms, Neko could focus on integrating its health data with other health apps and wearables, creating a cohesive ecosystem where users can track and manage their health across multiple touchpoints.

3. Engagement and Retention: Spotify’s model of daily user engagement through curated content could inspire Neko to create ongoing health programs that encourage users to stay engaged with their health data through exclusive health content creation or notification mechanisms, making preventative care a routine part of their lives.

Now that Neko Health has entered the U.K. market, its next test will be in the United States. While Americans have the purchasing power for advanced healthcare services, preventive health screenings like those offered by Neko are not yet ingrained in American medical culture. Successfully penetrating the U.S. market will require not just advanced technology, but also a shift in how consumers think about their health.

The Cost of Artificially Improving Productivity

Canva is dramatically increasing prices for its Canva Teams subscription, with some users facing over a 300% price hike due to the platform’s expanded generative AI features. In the U.S., a subscription for up to five users will rise from $120 to $500 per year, with a temporary discount reducing the first year's cost to $300. 

The reason for this change? Canva’s evolution from a simple design tool to a comprehensive workspace with advanced AI capabilities like Magic Media and Magic Expand. The price increase has sparked backlash from users, some of whom are considering switching to alternatives like Adobe.

What this means: This move by Canva signals a broader trend where companies that have significantly increased their users’ productivity through generative AI are now beginning to adjust their pricing models accordingly. But the question must be asked: at what cost?

This would be a very different situation for Canva if they chose to increase price tiers at the start of their usage of AI. Instead, since they’ve only begun to do so now, they risk decreasing their brand equity with their loyal customers. 

We use Canva and were shocked that they would increase prices so drastically. Time will tell if the company changes course as backlash continues.

Kaleidoscope Focused: Key News

1. VP Harris to propose increasing startup tax deduction from $5k to $50k

2. Snap testing a “simplified” Snapchat

3. Former Nike exec launches new app using AI to help NFL fans get a betting edge

4. Blitzy Raises $4.4m for coding copilots

5. 5 startup deals you may have missed in August

Curated Picks: Creator Spotlight

Flint Tanquary is a University of Southern California student who directed the USC football team’s hype video, which has gone viral on X with 4.8 million views.

Video link: https://x.com/uscfb/status/1830267693620166754

In the news: USC Hype Video Goes Viral Ahead of Marquee LSU Matchup - Newsweek

Where to find him: https://www.instagram.com/flinttanquary/

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