Outside observers see startups as temporally sequential, with a beginning (inception/ seed stage), middle (product-market fit/ growth stage), and end (IPO/ scale-up). The best founders actually live in all three of these phases simultaneously.

Opening: In the best companies, it is always early days and there is a big dream ahead. This is how Clay feels, even though the company is almost ten years old. They do this through a culture that is youthful and alive, and by constantly bringing on opening-style hires.

Midgame: The best startups often have midgame characteristics at the opening — within a few months, they can show traction and improvement, creating a sense of forward momentum. Supabase felt like this coming out of YCombinator.

Endgame: The best companies create a feeling of inevitability early, such that employees genuinely feel like they are moving the world forward. For example, Anduril pioneering modern defense tech. There is a vitality that is unleashed when people are doing their best work.

One phrase I’ve often used to describe the best founders is, “No matter what happens, they are going to win.” What has crystalized for me now is seeing a superstructure that makes this possible — they are holding the opening, midgame and endgame in their minds at the same time.

Some startups seem uniquely engineered for the opening, some for the midgame, and some for the endgame. The #1 piece of advice I give friends who are starting companies is to be aware of these biases, and explicitly combat them.

h/t @WillManidis for his great piece on endgame fatigue and how we’ve culturally become too endgame focused.