Intercom CSO Says TikTok and Remote Work Made Founders Clout Chasers

Founders used to be nerds in garages. Now, they’re rockstars.

Des Traynor cofounded Intercom back in 2011, when founders were still generally viewed as smart but socially awkward. Since then, Silicon Valley has gained some muscle and started to dress better. The money is also flowing, with the AI boom sending millions in venture funding to fresh-faced recent graduates and college dropouts.

Being a founder is cool now, Intercom’s chief strategy officer said on “Cheeky Pint.” That leads some entrepreneurs to found companies for the wrong reasons, he said.

“It was a lot easier to invest when being a founder was uncool,” Traynor said. “I blame, genuinely, ‘The Social Network.’ I blame the entrepreneurial lifestyle. I blame TikTok.”

John Collison, the cofounder of Stripe and podcast host, chimed in to reference the members’ club Soho House. “Exactly, all of that,” Traynor responded.

“To some degree, remote working, I’d throw into the mix as well,” Traynor said.

In an email to Business Insider, Traynor warned against the lure of the founder lifestyle trappings: “Look, you get one shot at this life, don’t waste it LARPing as a startup founder for followers,” he wrote.

“If you’re starting a startup so you can make it a part of your Instagram lifestyle, you’ll quickly realize that your feed isn’t real life, likes don’t pay any bills, and there’s only so much demand for your ‘laptop on the beach’ pictures (read: zero),” Traynor wrote.

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There was only one reason to get in the startup game, Traynor told Business Insider: “A deep insatiable desire to start something great that is a contribution to the world, in a way you believe really matters.”

“You need this deeper long sustaining motivation to keep you going through all the hard times a startup, even a successful one, will throw at you,” he wrote. “The work rate is insane, you’re never off the clock, you’re pinged 24/7/365. So you really have to want it.”

What will happen to all of those clout-hungry founders? Traynor wrote in his email that they would “fail in very slow motion” as they waste their peak years focused on “image and ego.”

“Sooner or later you realize that to actually make it work it’s less about late night selfies & hashtags, and more about ‘make something people want,’ ‘write code and talk to users,’ ‘9-9-6,’ and all that other stuff that isn’t quite as glamorous or sharable,” Traynor wrote.

Gone are the days of ping-pong tables and company nap rooms; these days, founders are embracing grind mode. They’re giving up drinking and partying and living off of air mattresses and takeout. They’re working a “9-9-6,” as in 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week.

“If that sounds good to you, then come on in, the water’s freezing and the outcome is unpredictable.”