Dr. No – Are you stuck in “Manager Mode”?

Hi there,

Rosa and I love staying in touch with people who care about evolving their teams, so we’re excited to send you another edition of Dr. No. As usual, if it’s not for you, just click below to opt out, and we’ll still be mates.

Today’s Dr. No covers 3 game-changing ideas:

• A mind-blowing essay to unlock the founder mindset for leading transformative teams.

• Two cutting-edge tools that can shift your team from reactive to proactive.

• A question that might make you rethink how you approach your team structure.

  Let’s dive in.

Essay Recommendation: "Founder Mode" by Paul Graham

Are you stuck in “Manager Mode” when you should be leading in “Founder Mode”?

Paul Graham’s "Founder Mode" essay offers a powerful perspective for GCs who are looking to transform their legal departments from cost centers to value-generating powerhouses. Graham draws a sharp line between Manager Mode and Founder Mode, and the implications for leaders are profound.

In Manager Mode, you’re taught to treat your team like a “black box”—hire good people, tell them what to do, and trust they’ll execute. In theory, this sounds like the ideal approach. But in practice, as Graham warns, it often results in hiring professional fakers who look great on paper but steer your company, or in your case, your legal department, in the wrong direction. The trap? The world tells you this is how things should be done, leaving you gaslit by layers of management while the real problems go unresolved.

In Founder Mode, you break free from these conventional hierarchies and dive deep into the work. For instance, think of Steve Jobs, who held annual retreats with the 100 most important people at Apple—not the 100 highest-ranking, but those driving real change. Imagine applying this approach to your legal department—handpicking the key players who can turn legal from a reactive, cost-driven function into a proactive, business-aligned one. Jobs knew these retreats worked because they brought the spirit of a startup into the structure of a huge company, and yet most businesses still don’t dare to do something similar.

The point? Founder Mode demands challenging the status quo. In this mode, you’re not managing people through bureaucratic layers or relying solely on your direct reports. Instead, you’re involved in the day-to-day, holding skip-level meetings and engaging with the details that actually matter. This allows you to uncover inefficiencies and drive the kind of transformative value your team and your business need.

The GC takeaway: Don’t just manage. Lead like a founder. Steve Jobs didn’t accept the traditional corporate playbook, and neither should you. Your legal department has the potential to be a true strategic partner to the business, but only if you break free from Manager Mode and embrace a more hands-on, founder-like approach.

Consider this: Could organizing a retreat for your legal department—one that includes key contributors, regardless of rank—be the game-changer that shifts mindsets and uncovers hidden value? What would happen if you started skipping levels, engaging directly with the people driving change instead of just the ones on the org chart?

Founder Mode is about trust, but not blind trust. It’s about knowing when to challenge your team, when to dive into the trenches, and how to uncover opportunities that wouldn’t surface if you only managed from afar.

So, the next time you’re told to "just manage," ask yourself: Is this really how value gets created? Or is it time to lead like a founder? Are you stuck in “Manager Mode” when you should be in “Founder Mode”?

Read Paul Graham’s essay here.

AI Productivity Tools

Here are two tools to help bring that Founder Mode energy into your legal ops:

✅ SoBrief: Ever wish you could condense a dense legal text into something digestible? SoBrief does just that, distilling any book into a 10-minute audio summary—with support for 40 languages! Perfect for staying sharp during commutes or quick study sessions. Check it out here.

✅ PrivacyAI: Tired of the hassle of drafting comprehensive policies and T&Cs? PrivacyAI automates the creation of Privacy Policies and Terms of Service with a few clicks—just enter your website, and voila! No more grunt work for your legal team. Learn more here.

Thought-Provoking Question

If you were building your legal team from scratch today, would it look the same as it does now? Why or why not?

That’s it for today. We hope this sparks some ideas on how to shake things up in your team, and get your team thinking like founders. If you want to discuss more about founder-mode leadership, feel free to reach out.

Best,

Manuel & Rosa