Why It’s Safe for Founders to Be Nice

Paul Graham’s essay Why It’s Safe for Founders to Be Nice argues that startup founders can afford to be kind without compromising success.

The Mathematical Foundation

“Making great things is compounded, and rapacity isn’t.”

If a nice founder extracts only half the revenue from users compared to a ruthless competitor, they’ll catch up within 15 weeks due to exponential growth.

More importantly, if niceness enables even a slightly higher growth rate (6% versus 5% weekly), the kind founder will eventually far exceed the rapacious one.

Why Niceness Works in Startups

Startups succeed through word-of-mouth recommendations from delighted customers. Being rapacious actually harms this mechanism.

“Being rapacious not only doesn’t help you do that, but probably hurts.”

The Practical Tradeoff

Founders can consciously embrace kindness while prioritizing growth rate as compensation. Most successful startups make this tradeoff unconsciously—they focus on building excellent products that naturally spread.

The Counterintuitive Insight

Rather than being driven by money, the most successful founders are motivated by their companies as personal projects, making them resistant to acquisition offers.

My Takeaway

Be nice. It’s not just ethical—it’s strategically sound.