Contrary to conventional wisdom about delegation, the best management style for a small business founder is to be "all over fucking everything all the time." This means maintaining granular involvement in every aspect of the company—from client happiness to legal spending—to relentlessly drive daily improvements and maintain operational control.

Before hiring for a critical function, founders should do the job themselves, even if they aren't experts. The goal isn't mastery, but to deeply understand the role's challenges. This experience is crucial for setting a high hiring bar and being able to accurately assess if a candidate will truly up-level the team.

Conventional scaling crushes founders by making them hold everything. Instead, invert the model: create a supportive architecture where your frameworks hold your work, which in turn holds you. This 'nesting bowl' approach enables scaling without feeling responsible for holding everything yourself.

Contrary to the popular advice to 'hire great people and get out of their way,' a CEO's job is to identify the three most critical company initiatives. They must then dive deep into the weeds to guarantee their success, as only the CEO has the unique context and authority to unblock them.

Bumble's founder believes the initial, all-consuming obsession is critical for getting a startup off the ground. However, this same intensity becomes a liability as the company matures. Leaders must evolve and create distance to gain the perspective needed for long-term growth and to avoid stifling opportunity.