In a chat with a friend today, he asked me a great question: Is there a trait founders consistently have? I had to think about it a bit. There are many founder traits, but one that’s common to all? That took more thought. Finally, I said that founders are problem solvers at their core.

Every founder I know is always thinking about and working on solving some problem. They’re not the sort of people who sit around and do nothing. They’re always looking for something they believe needs to be solved—and then trying to solve it. This drive to solve problems is hard-wired in them, I believe. Not all the solutions they work on will be successful, of course, but that doesn’t stop them from trying!