The qualities of a post-agentic refounder

Refounders are a whole other beast of company builder

“Twenty-four nights/on a one-way flight” Handz On

For a whole bunch of reasons (none of which were ‘Summer in Europe’), my writing has been parked over the last month. More on that soon. On a flight somewhere I read Rex Woodbury’s letter to his LPs on the qualities of a post-agentic founder which immediately annoyed me. I think this was mostly because I am none of the things on his list. Rex is perfectly sensible to think about the qualities of founders who will succeed in this era but I feel this was a fairly narrow view on YC-founder types. One of the most important lists which I haven’t read is the qualities needed for the post-agentic refounder: the founders (or in many cases, management teams) who are running companies started before 2022 and who are now in the process of rewiring everything.

As an aside, one of the most consistent aspects I find about founders with older companies is they are much more wired to be future looking. A lot of AI-native founders (including second-time operators) are very much focused on building for where the puck is going to be this afternoon.

Here’s what I look for when I’m assessing refounding scenarios:

Founders with energy

It’s the first thing I try to understand. Not the plan, not the vision. Have they got the energy to pour back into refounding the company. It’s not quite the same momentum drop which starting a new company is but it certainly requires the same levels of full-body investment. I always ask questions about personal situations, kids, age etc. It’s hard to know what this will take but looking at the data of companies who are successfully doing it, it feels like at least one very full-on/24-7 year of rebooting (firing, rebuilding org and processes, experimenting, customer management) and then 1-2yrs of building on top of that platform. Are they in mental and physical shape to do that one-year hell-march?

Founders who can defy sunk cost bias

This is almost always the next thing I try to check for. Refounding the company doesn’t mean firing everyone and starting again. But it might. Have you got the cognitive tools to walk away from a bunch of projects and people who simply aren’t right for 2026? Everyone knods their head at this but if you haven’t done it, you can’t imagine how emotionally brutal it can be.

Founders who can understand the nature of the new product landscape

Putting aside the history of your company, founders (and indeed product leaders) need to understand that your true product is not what you are selling today, it’s the existing budget allocation which your customers have allocated to the thing you are selling. Or as John Malone might call it, distribution.

Founders who can get on the road

I have never thought that hopping on a plane to meet customers, partners and, well, anyone in-person was all that unusual. But apparently some people think it is. Except for the people you are going to meet, who are almost always incredibly appreciative that you made the effort.

Founders who can define a new culture

I don’t think a new mission is actually as essential as it sounds. Refounding, reinvention, rebuilding or whatever you want to call it can be the mission in itself (at least for a while). But I think founders who are willing to redefine their culture as part of this might be the key test of who makes it and who doesn’t.

Founders that lead by doing

This is never not true. But for companies which are doing fine which have a delegated apparatus in place, the determination to go and (necessarily) break systems so they can show the company how to build is probably essential. Maybe there are other ways but I haven’t seen them.

Reading/listening/archaeology notes

I love this piece by Byrne on undeserved wealth. It’ll make you feel better about things.

Here’s a theory on how Epic Games and Roblox might be worth 5x more in the future

The ancient past was so much more sophisticated than we thought 1/2: Roman concrete.

The ancient past was so much more sophisticated than we thought 2/2: ancient global trade.

I don’t know how I end up reading things like moss electrophysiology but it’s fascinating: Moss as a computational substrate for biohybrid devices.

Am in the middle of a refresh of CAA’s history via James Miller’s Powerhouse CAA.