Had a bit of an epiphany trying to generalize leadership learning curves across types of leadership contexts. The thing about VC funded tech startups is that the learning curve is steepest, but it’s heavily underdamped so you have to unlearn/relearn a lot.
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Learning leadership in a traditional career in a big company is a classic S-curve. You log a lot of time at the bottom learning a deep tech stack (whether or not you’re on the tech side), then you take off.
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PE (and here I mean working as a leader in PE-funded companies) puts you in a faster initial learning curve but it’s still underdamped.
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Most of my consulting has been in the lower 4 levels. I’ve only had an indirect view of L5. But there’s a clear gap between leaders who have a vision of capital markets and those who are merely customers of the capital markets.
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I understand capital vision enough to navigate around it, but admittedly am very weak in situations where it's the main game. It's a game you only learn by logging a ton of boardroom hours. Consultants rarely have direct access to that level. You have to be a board member or exec
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Meta-thought: one of the reason the economy resists reform is that capital vision is such a closed game. Like an old-fashioned golf club that doesn't let in women or something. Not enough people are in the rooms where learning is possible, so low imagination visions dominate.
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Only 3 reasons people get on boards:
1. They represent large pools of financial capital
2. They represent large pools of social network capital.
3. They are important failsons
Very rare for people to get on boards because they have ideas/thoughts/expertise to contribute
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The exception is the occasional academic, but in those cases, they bring idea capital on board as a side-effect of bringing on academic social-network capital, which is the main reason they're there
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An interesting thing to think about is closed sports that were shaken up by outsider talent that wouldn't have gotten in during closed eras. Like Tiger Woods and snooty golf. Is there a Tiger Woods type prodigy in capital vision, who broke in despite being none of the 3? 🤔
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