Founders need to figure out what the message of the company is going to be.

Mediocre founders spend a lot of time talking about grand plans, but they never quite make a decision.

Facebook has this famous poster that says move fast and break things. But at the same time they manage to be obsessed with quality.

You should be giving out a lot of equity to your employees.

Share results (financial and key metrics) with the company every month.

Really dig into projects people have worked on and call references; that is another thing that first time founders like to skip.

M&A negotiations feel really fun. This is one of the biggest killers of companies, is they entertain acquisition conversations.