Global Strategist

These founders grew up crossing borders, almost always in several countries, then went to top global universities and frequently completed MBAs abroad. Early careers ran through professional services programs in consulting or investment banking with regional mandates, creating durable ties to investors, executives, and policymakers and a playbook for multi-country expansion. Personality-wise, they are mission-anchored, polished with investors, and skilled at sequencing entity setup, regulatory steps, and senior hires. Not typically technical, they excel at assembling cofounders and advisors, so the company scales beyond any single geography.

Lead with first-principles reasoning and learn as you go. Operate horizontally and low-ego: jump into unglamorous work, celebrate hacks, and show you’re learning fast. When signals turn red, move from editor to writer yourself. Show resilience and earn increasing autonomy by being predictable on 3 things: results, reasoning, and ownership. Model the same fairness and safety they expect from leaders.

Start scrappy and customer-obsessed, then re-import the fancy playbooks when you scale. Pick a differentiated thesis at the right timing and say “no” a lot. Avoid noise and bias toward high-margin markets. Learn to move fast on reversible bets while slowing down for the few irreversible ones. Hire painfully slow and fire fast. Above everything, always be humble, learn from your competitors, make the hard calls early on, and persist.