Founder Mode Starts Here
Most leadership advice wasn’t made for you. It was made for managers. Founder Mode is how the best founders scale—without compromising what makes them great.
Watch the Workshop
If you’ve ever felt like conventional leadership advice doesn’t fit—you’re not alone. I’ve been there. So have hundreds of the founder CEOs I coach.
This Workshop Will Change How You Lead
The best companies aren’t built by CEOs who let go of all the details.
They’re built by founders who lead—boldly, intentionally, and in their own way.
They understand what really matters and challenge outdated advice.
That's why I’m leading a movement to help founders run their companies in Founder Mode—the right way.
Too many founders are being told to step aside. To delegate to more experienced execs. To become someone else’s idea of a CEO.
And when they do? The company slows down, results predictable slip, and founder loses touch with the product—and with themselves.
I’ve seen this happen again and again. I’ve lived it myself.
Founder Mode is what works, and that’s what this workshop is here to teach.
It’s time to reimagine what it means to lead as a founder.
And that time is now.
What Is Founder Mode?
Founder Mode is a different way to lead.
- It’s highly intentional, personal—and unmistakably founder-driven.
- It’s knowing when to zoom in without getting lost in the weeds.
- It’s building high standards, real urgency, and sharp alignment.
Founder Mode Foundations™ is about learning how to lead in this mode on purpose, with the tools, frameworks, and clarity to do it well.
If you’ve ever felt like your leadership doesn’t “fit” the job description, you’re not broken.
You’re a founder.
It’s time to get back to leading like one.
“With his background as a successful founder, Dave truly gets what it takes to lead—and his frameworks consistently drive real, measurable results.”
Mikhil Raja
CEO of SonicJobs, (Series A)
Why Most Leadership Advice Fails Founders
Most leadership advice wasn’t designed for founders.
It was built for managers—inside big, stable companies with layers of structure and predictability.
You’ve probably heard things like:
And if you’ve followed that advice, you might have noticed:
- Standards drop
- Urgency decreases
- Progress slows down
- The team spreads thin
- People work on the wrong things
- You feel disconnected from your company
Founder Mode isn’t about doing everything yourself.
It’s about leading in a way that’s aligned with your instincts, your ambition, and your role as the founder of a venture-scale company.
What You’ll Get in This Workshop
Founder Mode Foundations™ is a 90-minute workshop that gives you the tools, mindset, and language to lead like only a founder can.
Inside, you’ll learn:
- Why so many founders end up too far from the details—and what to do instead
- How to spot the hidden cost of hiring “great people” without clear direction
- A practical system to increase urgency, raise standards, and tighten focus across your team
- How top CEOs structure their day, their team, and their role to stay close to what matters
You’ll leave with:
- Clarity about the kind of leader you want to be
- Confidence to challenge advice that doesn’t fit
- Energy to tackle the issues you’ve been avoiding
- And a sense of relief that you’re not alone—other great founders feel this too
This workshop has sparked real breakthroughs for hundreds of venture-backed CEOs.
It’s free for a limited amount of time and then it becomes part of our paid curriculum.
What Founder CEOs Are Saying
Malte Kosub
CEO of Parloa (Series C)
“With our leadership offsite coming up, this workshop was the perfect moment to hit pause, reflect, and gain fresh insights—on culture, structure, one-on-ones, onboarding, and more. I’m walking into that offsite with a clearer head and a stack of ideas to bring to the team.”
Anastasia Leng
CEO of CreativeX (Series B)
“The concept of a chief editor really hit me. I realised we haven’t had one in a long time. That language stuck with me. I’m taking it back to the team and even starting to describe myself that way—as a way to normalise some of the founder-mode behaviors I want to lean into.”
Guilherme Nazareth
CEO of Trela (Series A)
“What really stood out to me is how these ultra high-performing CEOs can clearly explain what they do and why they do it. Anna did it brilliantly with performance management. It made me realise I want to carve out a couple of weeks to go deep on how we can implement our version of Founder Mode at Trela.
Diptesh Patel
CEO of UBDS
“That Onboarding Onramp really hit home. I’ve tripped up on that a couple of times—thinking I should give someone full autonomy right away. But then, next thing you know, I’m either cleaning up the mess or stepping back in as the fixer. It’s not just me—others on the team have felt that too. It really resonated.”
Derry Holt
CEO of OneUp Sales (Series A)
“One thing I’ve really struggled with over the past year is second-guessing everything—constantly questioning the ‘right’ way to do things. This workshop made me realise that there isn’t one perfect answer. Different founders take different paths, and they all work. The videos made that clear too—slightly different approaches, all building world-class companies.”
Nick Chadwick
CEO of MissionZero (Series A)
“This workshop showed me the power of customer events. I’m seriously thinking about making this a year-long product launch mindset. I’d never fully internalised it before—but there’s something powerful about creating a shared gate the whole company has to move through together. I'm really looking forward to aligning everyone around momentum, clarity, and purpose.”
This is not your typical leadership workshop.
It’s a mirror. A mindset shift. A moment of clarity.
And for many, it’s the start of leading their company in a completely new way.
Who This Workshop Is For
This workshop is for venture-backed founders who are scaling fast and feeling the pressure that comes with it.
- You’re not at zero-to-one anymore.
- You’re somewhere between Series A and Series C+, leading a team that’s growing in sise, complexity, and expectation.
- You’re ambitious—but you’re also open-minded, self-aware, and willing to admit: “I don’t have all the answers.”
You want to build something truly iconic. But right now, you might be feeling:
- Pulled away from the details that matter
- Frustrated by misalignment across your team
- Unclear about your role as the company scales
- Caught between your instincts and the advice around you
If any of that sounds familiar, Founder Mode Foundations™ was built for you.
Who This Workshop Is Not For
- This isn’t for founders who want to fully step back and hand over the reins.
- It’s not for leaders looking for a generic playbook, or hoping to outsource culture, standards, and urgency to someone else.
- And it’s definitely not for people who think being a “real CEO” means disappearing into strategy while the team figures it out.
Who Is Dave Bailey?
Hi, good to meet you. I’ve founded three VC-backed startups—including Delivery Hero, which IPO’d in 2017.
I’ve raised millions, hired hundreds, and led through the mess and mystery of scale.
After stepping back from my third company, I started helping founders in my network. What began as a few one-off conversations turned into a full-time obsession.
Over the past 7 years, I’ve coached more than 250 venture-backed CEOs and built over 500 proprietary workshops, tools, and frameworks to help them lead with clarity, conviction, and real results.
I’m not your typical coach.
I’m a founder who coaches founders—and I’m on a mission to help you lead your company your way.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this going to encourage bad founder behaviour?
I’ve already hired a leadership team. Is this still relevant?
Is this just theory, or will I get practical tools?
What if I don’t have time right now?
What’s the catch? Is this just a sales pitch for coaching?
How can I work with you after the workshop?
Is this just for solo founders, or co-founders too?
Can I share this with someone on my team?
The Founder Coach for Startup CEOs
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