<p>&quot;I think the mission basically doesn&#39;t matter.&quot;</p><p>Waseem Daher, CEO of Pilot (and South Park Commons alum), has a contrarian theory about what actually drives startup success—and it&#39;s not passion for the problem you&#39;re solving. </p><p>Waseem joins General Partner Aditya Agarwal to unpack the real patterns behind building companies: why his &quot;thinking time&quot; after Dropbox was torture, why he believes passion is an output rather than an input, and why the conventional wisdom on hiring and delegation is dangerously wrong. </p><ol><li>Waseem Daher: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdaher/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/wdaher/</a></li><li>Aditya Agarwal: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaagarwal3/</a></li><li>South Park Commons: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://www.linkedin.com/company/southparkcommons/</a></li></ol><p>Apply to SPC:<a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqazQzNkVUdXpPbkgtazFwZDVzSHl3dEMtWkhIZ3xBQ3Jtc0tuNXp0S2g2eDloa0pmaHRQMDNZRnFrdUhDaDJ0cjV2dS00RXQzV0FyVXp6OXRoclZSVjVuRlVqRkRONUctSGtXTE9nUkhTSjlfbEVoWFI4ZzhHdDNCa2x1OFZuR2tqMXZxZF9PQ2FIX2ZBMlNKLVRtWQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.southparkcommons.com%2Fapply&v=r7T0iSvwcI4"> </a><a href="https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply">https://www.southparkcommons.com/apply</a></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Chapters:</strong></p><p>00:00:37 - Intro</p><p>00:02:57 - Why mission doesn&#39;t matter</p><p>00:12:36 - Waseem’s miserable time after Dropbox</p><p>00:16:10 - Testing vs sitting around brainstorming</p><p>00:31:38 - The case for micromanagement</p><p>00:34:05 - How LLMs are changing company creation and scaling</p><p>00:37:42 - The mindset shift that makes startups energizing</p>