When TikTok Natives Become Middle Managers
Entrepreneur Office Hours - Issue #247
At the end of last week I was invited to watch the final presentations for something called Project Media. Project Media is an orientation program for Duke’s first year students who are interested in… well… media.
The presentations were two-ish minute videos the students had made documenting some aspect of their first week in college. The content wasn’t particularly interested for someone in his 40s… mostly what you’d expect — 18-year-olds doing 18-year-old things. However, the style was fascinating.
Simply put, every video looked and felt like a TikTok. It’s a new genre of storytelling and communication sprouting before our eyes.
At first glance, I realize that observation might not seem interesting or surprising, but let me explain the two big reasons it matters.
First, it matters because these students were trained on the “TikTok aesthetic.” By that I mean they didn’t spend high school with some teacher laboriously walking them through the intricacies of a “Day In the Life” vlog or a Get “Ready With Me” explainer. Instead, they simply absorbed the aesthetic by watching thousands of hours of content. To them, it’s their native language for storytelling… it’s just as natural as starting a story with “Once upon a time.”
That nativeness brings me to the second reason all of this matters, which is that these 18-year-olds are going to become 35-year-old middle managers. And when they do, they’re not going to fundamentally change the way they ingest or disseminate information. So ask yourself: What does that mean for how the “professional world” is going to evolve alongside them?
Admittedly, this observation about the native TikTok aesthetic of videos being produced by a bunch of 18-year-olds is a bit squishy and random. But mark my words… it’s going to matter. It’s how 18-year-olds communicate, and it’s not going to vanish when they become 35-year-olds. Instead, the TikTok aesthetic is going to be a lynchpin of how information gets conveyed in the professional world. And while I don’t know exactly what that means, I know it’s going to be important.
Consider this your warning, and I look forward to your emails in 15 years telling me I was right.
-Aaron
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Office Hours Q&A
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QUESTION:
Hi Aaron,
I've been thinking a lot about leadership styles lately, especially as my startup begins to grow. Could you share your insights on how different leadership styles can impact a startup's culture and success?
I’m especially interested in hearing your thoughts on what leadership style you think is most effective in the early stages of a company and how much should I focus on my leadership versus all the other things I need to be worrying about as a first time founder."
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!
Best,
Jordan
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I was glad to see this question come in. Leadership is an important thing for entrepreneurs to discuss. Though, to be fair, sometimes people use “leader” and “entrepreneur” a bit too interchangeably for my tastes. Entrepreneurs don’t always need to be leaders. Sometimes they need to be followers, too.
Still, leadership – especially as CEO and as you’re building a team, is something worth obsessing about. In a way, it’s the glue that holds everything together.
In the early days of a startup, I lean towards what I call "adaptive leadership." Adaptive leadership is all about being flexible and ready to pivot when the market throws a curveball or some new data points you in a different direction.
In other words, adaptive leadership means you're not just setting the course; you’re also ready to steer the ship through changing conditions. That’s important because those changes happen often in the startup world. In fact, they’re a hallmark of the startup world, which is why adaptive leadership is necessary. You can’t just say “let’s do it this way” and expect your strategy to work. A strict approach to leadership won’t work because you’ll almost certainly get new information that’s going to change your plans.
Also, for what it’s worth, adaptive leadership has the advantage of helping establish a culture where everyone in the org feels like they have a stake in what’s being built and their voices are heard, which can be motivating and empowering.
As for how much energy a first-time founder should put into leadership versus all the other things a startup has to deal with, I’m obviously not going to be able to tell you a specific amount of time. The best I can tell you is that you should be setting aside regular time each week to reflect on how you’re leading your venture – maybe grab a coffee every Friday afternoon and think about what leadership tactics worked well that week and what didn’t. And be sure to chat with your team often, not just about project updates but about how they feel things are going. This feedback is priceless. It’s real-time data on how your leadership is resonating with the people who help drive your vision forward.
The bottom line here is that I love how you’re being intentional. The reality is there’s no one “right” way to be a leader. All successful leaders have their own approaches, and the fact you’re thinking about it is a good sign that you’re approaching leadership for your startup the right way.
Got startup questions of your own? Reply to this email with whatever you want to know, and I’ll do my best to answer!
