From Founder to Orchestrator: Holding the Vision Like Steve Jobs
- R Ramdohr
- Jan 27
- 2 min read
"Good engineers. Lousy management. What happened is that you look at the farm that's been created with all those different animals that are going in different directions, and it doesn't add up. The total is less than the sum of the parts." - Steve Jobs
This is such an important observation for any entrepreneur to keep in mind. When you first start out, it's relatively easy to control all the processes, mostly because you're probably the only person working on them.
When you start hiring people, you're directly overseeing them in most instances. This creates its own problems, but typically you know where everything is going and how everything is moving.
Once you start getting middle managers (e.g. foremen), you start having to give up direct supervision and relying on trust in the structure / managers. This is where things can fall apart without a plan.
At that stage, a founder/entrepreneur needs to become an orchestrator. That means building systems and redundancies that ensure you have oversight without needing to be in the weeds.
It also means you need a vision for the firm. What should it look like, where will it go, how will it operate. Most entrepreneurs kind of know this when they're starting out, but rarely cement it. This is extremely helpful for making future decisions & staying true to the vision.
This is what Jobs was describing. A corporation needs a vision. It needs to know where it's going & why it's doing what it's doing. It needs its founder's vision. When you've got the resources to put visions into action, you need to hold the vision & bridge the gap between what's in your head & what's in your hands.
You've got the vision. Now, go make it a reality.
Not financial/legal advice
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