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Lowenhar: Founder mode often confuses fear-driven reaction with real intuition

Jonathan Lowenhar · How a great founder becomes a great CEO | Jonathan Lowenhar (co-founder of Enjoy The Work) · Dec 5, 2024 · at 1:19:36

Jonathan Lowenhar, co-founder of Enjoy The Work, explains the difference between authentic founder intuition and reactive decision-making disguised as 'founder mode.'

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“Intuition comes from, in my point of view, A deep understanding of self and the capacity to get quiet and be well resourced. Meaning you've slept well and you've eaten well and you have enough love in your world. And I think what founder mode can confuse is my intuition says I should just do this job for them and fire these three people. That's not intuition. That's reaction. That's a fear response.”

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