The Founder’s Paradox: How to Succeed When Most Founders Fail

Every summer I go on a backpacking trip to the Sierras in California. This year it was to the Emigrant Wilderness, just north of Yosemite. Jagged granite peaks, ice-blue lakes punctuated by ancient windswept trees, open meadows flush with wildflowers — it is an awesome place.

Several close friends typically join me for the trip. And as anyone who has hiked this region knows, it can be very challenging terrain. The weather patterns, even in the summer, can be violent at the higher elevations....