How to lighten the load for founders and who can make the best decisions

Most founders start a business believing they'll build freedom. Sometimes it can end up imprisoning you. Every important decision lands on the founder's desk. Every approval, problem, late-night phone call. As Nicholas Thomson, the founder of Iceberg explains it on episode 66 of Startup 360, it’s like carrying a backpack filled with bricks and every day, another brick is added. Nick left corporate life and started Iceberg to help people challenge one of the deepest assumptions in business: that leaders have to make all the decisions. Culture isn't created by motivational posters or mission statements, he says. It's created by the systems we build every day. The conversation explores why so many founders become the bottleneck in their own companies, how hierarchy can unintentionally suppress initiative, and why the people closest to the customer often make the best decisions. Simon and cohost Julie Trell also tackle one of the trickiest issues for startups – financial transparency. How much should a team really know when every month can feel like life or death? It's a fascinating debate that goes to the heart of trust, ownership and leadership. Along the way there's plenty of Startup 360 banter, including a spirited discussion about the corporate obsession with "stretch goals", why spending thousands of dollars in meetings to approve a $200 purchase makes no sense, and whether work should ever leave you in tears. If you've ever found yourself wondering why your business still depends on you for everything, this episode offers a different way of thinking. It won't solve every leadership challenge overnight, but it might just help you take a few bricks out of the backpack. Startup 360 is a SmartCo. Media production, produced and edited by Matt Jackson, and supported by Deel. Hire, manage and pay – anyone, anywhere.Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, and read StartupDaily.net for all the ANZ tech news for free