The 5 Values That Make or Break Founders and Why Most Realise It Too Late.

Startups don't fail because of ideas. They fail because of misalignment.

Speak to a founder post-mortem, and they'll often cite funding gaps, hiring mistakes, or market misreads as the culprits. But beneath these tangible missteps lies a more insidious problem: a breakdown of values. Misaligned principles lead to fractured teams, eroded trust, and decisions that slowly bleed momentum, ultimately leading to the demise of the startup.

In contrast, the startups that survive aren't just the scrappiest or smartest. They're the ones whose values serve as their operating system, guiding decisions, shaping culture, and preserving the mission even when everything else feels uncertain.

Values aren't just a set of lofty ideals. They are your strategic compass, guiding every decision and action. If you don't define them early, the chaos of startup life will define them for you, potentially leading to missteps and misalignments.

Integrity: The Compass in Chaos

Picture this: A founder is days away from closing a significant funding round. The lead investor wants to see signs of explosive growth now. There's a tempting shortcut: inflate a few metrics on the pitch deck. Nothing too wild, just enough to create the illusion of traction. No one would find out.

This moment is more common than we'd like to admit. And it's precisely where integrity shows up or doesn't.

Integrity isn't just about big moral decisions. It's about what you do when no one's watching. It's how you handle scope creep with a customer, how you treat a junior team member under stress, and how transparently you communicate when the numbers don't go your way.

In startups, chaos is constant. Decisions are fast, stakes are high, and the pressure to perform is relentless. However, the founders who win in the long term are those whose actions consistently align with their principles.

Integrity builds trust. Trust is the foundation of every lasting relationship, whether with your co-founders, team, customers, or investors.

Without it, you're just playing the short game.

Curiosity: The Engine of Adaptation

The best founders aren't the ones with all the answers. They're the ones who keep asking better questions.

What are we missing?

Why is our customer really churning?

What if the market isn't wrong?

Curiosity fuels everything in a startup, from your product roadmap and growth strategy to your hiring decisions. It's what drives founders to sit in on customer support calls, to shadow users instead of assuming what they need, and to challenge their own assumptions even when the data looks "good enough."

When curiosity leads, innovation follows.

I've seen teams reinvent stagnant products not because they pivoted blindly but because they listened more closely. They asked what customers were trying to solve, not just what features they wanted. They revisited their onboarding flows. They asked, "Why now?" and "What if not?" at every stage. For instance, a startup in the food delivery industry didn't just focus on delivering food faster, but they asked why people order food and what they value in the process, leading to a more customer-centric approach.

Curiosity also demands self-awareness. Great founders interrogate their own leadership style. They solicit feedback even when it stings. They know that ego kills startups faster than market misfits.

The startups that thrive are the ones that evolve. And evolution is only possible when curiosity is alive at every level of the company.

Because once you stop learning, you stop adapting. And in the startup world, that's when you start dying.

Empathy:  Culture's Silent Architect

In one of my start-ups, it had everything going for it in terms of funding, talent, and momentum. However, within a year, the founding team fractured. So what happened?

The CEO that we put into the business did not buy in. He was absent and manipulative, and in the space of less than nine months, he had burned through most of the capital we had raised upon his arrival. He was emotionally tone-deaf. He was quick to blame everyone else. Feedback was delivered like a monologue. Team concerns were brushed off as distractions.

It wasn't the workload that drove people away. It was the absence of empathy. the lack of care for the business or the team!

Empathy isn't about being nice. It's about being attuned. It's the ability to read the room, to sense when someone's checked out, to ask "how are you really doing?" and actually mean it.

In hiring, empathy helps you look past resumes and sense alignment. I would like to let you know that feedback guides you on how to deliver the truth without triggering shame. In leadership, it's what makes your team feel seen, just managed.

Startups move fast. And in the rush to execute, it's easy to treat people like resources instead of relationships. However, that comes at a cost, namely, morale, retention, and creativity. People don't give their best to leaders who don't understand them.

Empathy creates psychological safety. And in that safety, teams take risks, speak up, and stick around.

So empathy isn't soft. It's one of the most challenging and strategic skills a founder can master. It's not just about being nice, it's about understanding your team and using that understanding to make strategic decisions. It's about creating a culture of psychological safety that encourages risk-taking and innovation.

Resilience: The Real Competitive Advantage

There's a moment every founder hits: when the runway is short, the product is buggy, and a key hire has just quit. You sit at your desk, stare at the screen, and think, is this even worth it?

I recall a founder I worked with during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their startup had just launched a travel-related SaaS product. Within two weeks, their pipeline evaporated. Investors ghosted. Team morale plummeted. But instead of panicking or posturing, the founder gathered the team and said, "We didn't plan for thisbut we will respond to it."

They paused outbound sales and focused on customer interviews. They uncovered a new use case for virtual event coordination and rebuilt the product in six weeks. It wasn't glamorous. It was gritty, exhausting work. But it saved the company and eventually led to a successful pivot.

That's resilience.

It's not just grinding harder. It's managing your emotions when plans implode. It's reflecting without spiralling after failure. It's knowing when to push and when to rest. It's about pacing yourself and your team for the marathon, not the sprint.

Resilience also means modelling stability. If your team sees you unravel every time things go sideways, they'll follow suit. But if you can stay grounded while being honest about the stakes, they'll find their footing, too.

In uncertain times, resilience isn't a bonus; it's a necessity. It's your baseline. Building a startup isn't just about surviving; it's about thriving. It's about helping your people rebound, rebuild, and rise together.

Clarity  Direction is Power

A startup team can survive scrappy pay, long hours, and changing goals. But the one thing that breaks them? Not knowing where they're going.

I once attended a leadership meeting where the team was debating the roadmap for the upcoming quarter. The product wanted to double down on a feature customers loved. Marketing was prepping a campaign for a different use case. Sales had just promised something else entirely to a major client. Everyone was working hard, just not in the same direction.

That's what happens when there's no clarity.

Clarity isn't just having a vision. It's communicating that vision over and over, especially when the ground is shifting. It's about ensuring your team not only knows what they're doing but also why it matters, how it connects to the mission, and what trade-offs come with the plan.

When you lead with clarity, alignment becomes natural. Teams execute faster. Priorities become obvious. Energy isn't wasted on second-guessing or sideways work. And even when the direction needs to change (because it will), you can bring people with you because they understand the why, not just the what.

Clarity isn't a one-time keynote or a slick investor deck. It's a daily discipline. It's how you run meetings, write internal docs, and make decisions.

In the chaos of startup life, clarity is what cuts through the noise and keeps the mission alive.

Startups rarely fail all at once. They fail in fragments. Trust erodes, alignment slips, and morale fades. And underneath those symptoms, it's often a values problem.

The founders who build lasting companies aren't just chasing metrics. They're shaping cultures. They lead with integrity when no one's watching, stay curious in the face of ambiguity, practice empathy under pressure, model resilience when the path is unclear, and communicate with clarity that inspires Action.

Values aren't posters on a wall. They're how you show up when things get hard.

So ask yourself: Which of these values is strong in your leadership today? Which one needs your attention tomorrow?

Because the business you're building will only be as strong as the values you're living.

Which of these 5 values have you leaned on the most, and which has tested you the hardest?

I'd love to hear about your experience. Drop your thoughts in the comments or share your own list.

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About Adam Ryan

This perspective is shared by Adam Ryan, a seasoned founder and investor with a deep track record in early-stage ventures, including some that have reached valuations exceeding $5 billion across Australia and California. With multiple startups launched and exited and hundreds more supported through investment and advisory roles at Watkins Bay, Adam brings a unique insight into the world of startups and innovation.

He now serves as an Adjunct Professor at Monash University, ranked #9 globally for Economics, focusing on the intersection of innovation, startups, technology, start-up simulations, hyper-growth, Capital, and market disruption. One of his significant contributions is as the founder of the Startup Growth Hacking Resource Centre, a hub for emerging founders who want to scale with precision and purpose. This initiative connects him with the startup community, demonstrating his commitment to fostering innovation.

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