Travis Kalanick on the founder's paradox: getting better makes it harder to stay fired up
a16z · x · 2026-10-14
In a conversation shared by a16z, Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick describes the 'founder's paradox': the more experienced you get, the harder it is to stay hungry.
Key points: things that once took him days of stress now take 45 minutes; he's so used to adversity that it no longer makes him angry — but 'being pissed off makes you good as an entrepreneur,' so he has to deliberately stay fired up. 'You get too used to adversity, and that's kind of a problem.' He adds that today's young founders 'don't totally get it' yet.
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