Paul Graham, co-founder of the start-up accelerator Y Combinator, wrote an essay called Founder Mode that went viral earlier this year. He wrote about a talk by Brian Chesky, the co-founder of Airbnb, where he challenged conventional advice on managing larger companies. Apparently, as Airbnb grew, Chesky was told to “hire good people and give them room to do their jobs”, but this led to poor results.

As a co-founder, I find this concept relevant as I have experienced the challenges that come with balancing delegation and involvement. The idea of finding the right level of engagement spoke directly to the tensions I have felt while growing our company.

An example from Steve Jobs’ time at Apple was used, where he would organise annual retreats, inviting 100 of the most important people in the company — though not necessarily those highest on the organisational chart. This approach allowed Jobs to engage with key individuals, far beyond those reporting directly to him. This idea of remaining involved in the company’s core resonates with me as I reflect on my own journey at Influencer.com.

I co-founded the company about seven years ago, and we have grown to more than 150 employees across three continents. I have maintained strong relationships with team members, whether they were early joiners we personally recruited or colleagues I bonded with during company events. While insights from the management team are useful, there is nothing more valuable than connecting directly with people on the front lines and delivering work for our clients. First-hand insights from them are far more impactful and informative.

There is a reason founders are encouraged to avoid micromanaging and to embrace delegation. It is impossible to scale a business if you are trying to manage every detail, and nothing dampens morale quite like having a founder question every decision. However, like much advice, it is given without the necessary nuance and balance.

During the peak of the NFT mania, I spoke with the founder of a thriving company in the non-fungible token space. Not only did they have an incredibly high valuation, but they were also genuinely profitable (at the time). The way this founder talked about delegation struck me as remarkably straightforward. He echoed the same advice Chesky received: “I hire people smarter than me and give them the space to do their jobs. If the results fall short, I step in to fix things, but I’m rarely stressed because the more talented people I hire, the less I have to do.”

As someone who has often tangled in various issues across my businesses, I questioned my leadership style. But the more I reflected, the clearer it became that this approach only worked because their company was riding high. As soon as challenges increased or targets were raised, it seemed unlikely that such a hands-off strategy would continue to be effective. I feel too awkward to ask how things are going now but it is likely that the founder has had to jump in.

I hope founders don’t use this newfound validation as an excuse to indulge their micromanagement tendencies. Balance is crucial, and overstepping can be just as harmful as being too hands-off. It is about finding the right balance between involvement and trust, adapting as the business evolves, and knowing when to step in or step back. It is also important to emphasise that, while I would prefer a strong founder who is fully engaged over a management team running the show, I would still take a competent management team over a poorly performing founder any day.

Caspar Lee is the co-founder of Influencer.com and Creator Ventures