The seven most common characteristics of founders (and the one most are missing)

Nov '25 (edited) • Keep the Change Testimonials

I posted this previously, but I think it got lost, and I would love y’all‘s feedback on this list. I’ve listened to over 250 founders podcast episodes, started from the beginning, and I’ve put together a list of the most common characteristics that I was seeing over and over again, as well as the one that I’ve only really seen in Ed Thorpe. Here’s the list:

The 8 -

1. Relentless resourcefulness

2. Dogged work ethic - James Dyson, Ernest Shackleton

3. Watching and cutting costs - Henry Clay Frick, Rockefeller

4. Stupidly high self confidence - all of them 😂

5. Obsessed with control -

6. FOCUS. Intense, singular focus.

7. Time to ponder, aka unstructured thinking time, aka mentally-active-physical-laziness

8. (the one most are missing) Knowing when enough is enough - Ed Thorpe

Am I missing any? Or do you disagree with any of these? Would love thoughts on this

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