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Europe vs US: Where To Scale Your Startup | Carolyn Dawson - Founders Forum Group
Episode 46
Most founders don't realise the biggest barrier to scaling isn't capital or talent — it's learning when to let go.
Carolyn Dawson built a 10,000-person founder community by understanding this one truth:
The best leaders know exactly when to stop being indispensable.In this interview you’ll discover what is needed to choose between entering the US vs Europe startup sector.
🧠 What You'll Learn:
▪️ Why European founders' "humanity" in hiring decisions might actually be holding back the ecosystem
▪️ How celebrating failure accelerated growth at Supercell (and why most founders get this backwards)
▪️ The curation secrets behind building the UK's most exclusive founder community
▪️ Why "founder mode" becomes dangerous after Series B and when to transition
▪️ The internal vs external balance that separates unicorn founders from the rest
📖 Chapters
00:00 - UK vs US: The Narrative Problem
06:27 - When Founders Should Actually Exit Their Companies
11:43 - Building a People-Driven Business at Scale
22:46 - The Stories Behind Closed Funding Rounds
24:15 - What Separates the Top 1% of Founders
31:03 - The Quality vs Speed Trade-off in Company Building
33:22 - Building Loyalty: The Team That Follows You Everywhere
39:13 - From Control Freak to Strategic Leader
42:05 - The External vs Internal Balance Every Founder Must Master
45:21 - What Information to Share vs Keep Private
47:37 - European vs US Firing Culture: The Speed vs Humanity Debate
57:28 - Going Global: Boots on Ground vs Remote
59:09 - The Inner Voice That Builds Resilience
62:06 - Taking Yourself Too Seriously: The Success Trap
🍿 WATCH NEXT
If you liked this conversation, you'll love this one too:
Hard Startups Truths; Funding, Team Design, Skills | James Routledge
https://youtu.be/XcBwsq-KzmI?si=-WhZcPjyXXLWZYMq
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Published on 1 week, 1 day ago