I would like to comment more on the founder syndrome (singular focus on Idea/vision) by characterizing it as a product of “founders dilemma”. I believe that founders dilemma forces the entrepreneur to make decisions that leads to founders syndrome as described above.

The founders dilemma occurs when the founder is alone, and in absence of co-founders or support he has to craft an execution path for his business/vision based on his experience and best judgment. During his journey the founder receives a lot of insight, some good, most not so good. The dilemma of the founder is to determine how to separate the good from the bad and to continuously refine his vision using the good. If the founder perceives that most of what he is receiving is self serving by the provider and/or he cant identify any value, he becomes very inwardly focused on his vision and his defined execution path. He begins to perceive his external interactions as distractions and noise i.e. he suffers from founders syndrome. Those founders who can manage and filter data points well and are conscious of the founders dilemma can avoid or manage founders syndrome.}

Developing the discipline and means to discern that balance is often difficult when you’re in the thick of it all.

Nicely written!}

Founder: “…let me begin by telling you where this unique concept originated…”

Buyer: Sound of keyboard typing overheard

Founder: “Are you still there?”

Click! End of call.

AFTER you’ve built a relationship and demonstrated value a buyer may be interested in your Vision. Up until that point it’s simply WIIFM (what’s in it for me?).

100% transfer of the vision is tough, and perhaps not possible.

What’s less tough is training proxies (sales and support staff) to demonstrate the value.

** The challenge here is knowing how your offering meets a customer need and articulating that.

Once done, you (the founder) can focus on what matters: execution.}