What should early-stage founders focus on day-to-day, and what tasks should they delegate sooner?

2026-04-23 · Team

In the first 18 months, I was doing almost everything: playing with the website, packing discs, talking to customers, tweaking copy, chasing bugs, pitching investors, and constantly running experiments. My real job wasn’t “CEO.” It was learning.

Two things I should’ve handed off sooner: one: routine operations and anything I was doing just because I could do it faster myself. two: things whose quality didn't directly impact the likelihood of success.

What I was right to keep: product vision, culture, and continuous contact with customers. Early on, founders need their hands deep in almost everything. Not to control it, but to understand what really matters.

Public Hand Raises only. Questions anonymized; answers are Marc Randolph's mentorship responses with names redacted.