Paul Graham says stay in "Founder Mode." Your board says delegate. Both paths lead to the same place: a company that can't scale without killing you.
There's a third way. It's called Founder's Orbit—the physics of maintaining founder velocity without founder thrust.
Watch the Free TrainingEveryone's arguing about "Founder Mode vs. Manager Mode" like you have to pick one. Stay hands-on forever, or hand off and watch your culture die.
But here's what they're missing: both modes require constant thrust. One burns you out. The other burns through your vision.
The real question isn't which mode—it's how do you stop needing thrust at all?
You stay in every decision. Quality stays high. But you're the bottleneck for everything. Your calendar is a warzone. Your energy is a depleting asset.
You delegate "the right way." Hire leaders. Build process. But slowly, the thing that made your company special gets smoothed over by professional managers optimizing for safety.
In physics, orbit is what happens when you've achieved enough velocity that you no longer need thrust to stay in motion. Gravity does the work. The same principle applies to building companies.
Founder's Orbit is Leadership Orbit calibrated specifically for founders navigating the scale trap. It's how you maintain founder-level velocity without founder-level thrust.
The minimum energy required to break free from the gravity of "doing it yourself."
Building systems that run on gravity (culture, ownership) instead of thrust (you).
The diagnostic that tells you when you're burning fuel you don't have.
The "Founder Mode" debate is happening right now. Position yourself with the answer while the conversation is hot.