The Next Unicorn: Founder mode

Editor’s Note: This story is a piece of fiction, meaning that all characters and events are purely from the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Andrew Ho is an aspiring wantrepreneur. There are many things he wants — the new Tesla Cybertruck, a perfectly proportioned Sweetgreen bowl, and, most importantly, a girlfriend. Ride along with Andrew as he tries to maintain his sanity through the ups and downs of being an early-stage founder surrounded by the absurdities of Silicon Valley. From the magic of b2b saas to finding founder-market-fit to starting from first principles, The Next Unicorn depicts the fanatical constant grind within the SF startup community.

Andrew was approaching the age where one starts thinking as an adult — his tiny apartment in Hayes Valley currently had no interior design taste. His roommate, a current Ph.D. student at UCSF, had been in a relationship for seven years and was about to propose. His best friend was asexual; his co-founder, a self-declared expert. Andrew was perpetually confused and, as of late, terrified. 

This was his state of mind as he rode along the busy streets of SF on his electric scooter to the co-working space his co-founder Arnav had arranged. It was run by Sunflower Ventures, one of the hottest early-stage investors in SF. They had been working from their apartments so far, but his co-founder had announced current working conditions were severely impacting his productivity. Therefore, they needed a change of scenery (they both hadn’t seen sunlight for a week, and his co-founder was also in need of a girlfriend). A week earlier, Andrew had received an email from Sunflower with instructions on how to get to their office. He was nervously excited as he walked through the lobby and went to the 11th floor. On his way up, another person entered the elevator. “Hey,” Andrew said, “Are you also heading to Sunflower Ventures?” 

The man didn’t respond — he was wearing AirPods. Andrew fidgetted nervously, debating whether to repeat himself. The guy looked up. 

“What did you say?” He asked, pulling out his right Airpod. Andrew could see he had been listening to the “Acquired” podcast — a personal favorite. 

“Oh—are you a founder?” 

“Founder mode.” 

“What?” 

“Founder mode — the episode I’m listening to. Are you a founder? Of course you are. I’m on the Sunflower team — Nick Blum.” They shook hands, and Nick quickly retracted from Andrew’s sweaty palms. 

“FOUNDER MODE — that’s what you should be aiming for,” He dug out his phone to show the picture of Mark Zuckerberg with his Gen Z curls and pointed at the shirt. 

“See that? Know what it says? 

“Learn from su-ffer-ing. That’s what it is. FOunder mode. Founder. Are you in founder mode?” 

Andrew was slightly bewildered. “Y-yes. I’m a founder.” Andrew replied. “Are you a founder?” 

“I just asked who you are. Doesn’t matter who I am. I’m just an investor on the Sunflower team. It’s about you—FOunder. MOde.” 

Before Andrew could respond, they arrived on the 11th floor and walked out. Andrew stared at the beautiful view of downtown SF and was at a loss for words. 

“Hey! Good to see you man!” His co-founder had already arrived and was talking to a pretty girl wearing a summer dress by the office door. “What’s up Arnav?” Andrew walked over to them. “Well, just got here and this space is AWE—SOME. Meet Katie — she’s the boss around here.” 

“I’m not — don’t listen to him,” Katie smiled. “I’m Head of Community and I’ll be giving you two your onboarding session. Right this way.” As Katie badged in to open the door, Andrew turned around to say bye to Nick but found he had already disappeared inside — furiously texting on his cell phone.

“He has back-to-back meetings every Monday from 9 to 6,” Katie saw where Andrew was looking and explained, “Everyone on the team is very busy — especially Nick.” 

Katie whispered to them, “Nick was featured on the Midas Brink list last month — got all the deets on deal flow. You should totally try to get a meeting with him.” 

Katie was two years out of undergrad at Stanford, where she studied public policy and MS&E. Her older brother was a founder of a Sunflower portco and one of Nick’s investments. “Thanks for the tidbit,” Arnav said. “You really know what’s up around here.” 

“Of course I do! I mean — I’m in here 24/7 like you guys grinding,” She bumped shoulders with Arnav’s lower arm. Andrew laughed nervously. The space was big, and relatively awesome. Andrew was impressed. From another investor at a competing early-stage firm, the biggest question everyone seemed to have was the costs of upkeep. Sunflower Ventures had leased the space during the COVID ghost season and gotten “good shit terms” to squeeze a thousand people into the 11th floor of a deserted building. The view was spectacular, the plant tubs empty, and the desks overstacked with monitors, snacks, and the occasional unicorn plushie (the unofficial official Sunflower mascot). The empty plant tubs were because Sunflower was a “lean” VC — Andrew had seen all of the plant tubs filled on the 5th floor, where a seed stage startup had rented out the whole space and filled it with exotic Australian flora and scented bean bags. The startup also installed a meditation room, a snack wall, and two retro arcades — all of which were disappointingly absent from the Sunflower office space. 

But back to the view! Andrew decided to look on the bright side of things. “You should see this place when the sun sets,” Katie said as she walked them through the hallway, pointing out the restricted kitchen area (reserved for the Sunflower team), the conference rooms, and the common areas. “Of course, I’m not here after three on Fridays and Tuesdays and after four on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and we’re all virtual on Mondays. The AC turns off after six, so I don’t suggest staying too long. It gets ridiculously stuffy by seven. Don’t take snacks from the cabinets, all desks with items on top are already taken, and the west side tables are all reserved for—” 

“Sunflower team members,” Arnav finished for her.

“Correct,” Katie nodded. “Let me know if you have any questions! We are here to make this space amazing for founders — that’s our job! To support you guys on your journey in any way we can.” Katie gave them a big smile, then quickly returned to her phone at the sound of a Slack ping. 

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