Brands with less than 2% market share captured 39% of all incremental category growth in 2024. Up from 17% in 2023 and just 6% in 2022, according to Bain’s research into 120 insurgent brands.

The question isn’t what these brands are doing differently. It’s how they’re making decisions.

The Founder Energy Effect

Founders operate with something rare: crystal-clear intent. They know who their brand is, why it matters, and what feels right.

That clarity fuels speed, distinctiveness, and trust. They don’t need 200-page brand guidelines because they are the guidelines. Every choice flows from the same source: authentic intent.

This is “founder energy.” And right now, it’s creating disproportionate growth.

Why Clarity Beats Scale

Take Liquid Death. Mike Cessario didn’t guess when he packaged water like an energy drink with death-metal aesthetics. He knew his brand’s soul — and who would connect. That clarity has built a $1.4bn valuation in six years.

Or Dollar Shave Club. Michael Dubin’s viral launch wasn’t strategy by committee. It was authentic expression. 12,000 customers signed up in 48 hours because they felt his intent.

When intent is crystal clear:

• Decisions are faster.
• Messaging is sharper.
• Communities form more naturally.

That’s not recklessness. It’s confident speed.

Brand Decisions vs Business Decisions

This clarity shows up most in the decisions founders make.

Big companies lean toward optimisation: lower costs, higher efficiency, faster ROI. Business-first logic.

But founders instinctively favour brand-first logic:

• Kit Kat once saved pennies by ditching foil for flow-wrap. They lost a ritual.
• Pret stopped the staff from giving out free coffee randomly. They lost little magic.

Those are business decisions. Founders, by contrast, will spend extra to preserve meaning — because they know brands are built on feeling, not just logic.

Over time, those feelings compound into emotional equity that spreadsheets can’t measure but customers can’t ignore.

The Four Traits of Founder Energy

Looking across today’s insurgent winners, four patterns emerge:

1. Natural Distinction: Founders instinctively create assets that stand out — colours, rituals, sensory cues. They don’t optimise to average; they choose what feels right.
2. Authentic Intent: They translate complex visions into simple feelings. Because they genuinely embody the brand, clarity comes effortlessly.
3. Consistent Decisions: Every choice either builds or betrays the brand. Founders call it instinctively; large organisations often debate it endlessly.
4. Unreasonable Care: They add flourishes no spreadsheet can justify, but customers never forget. It’s this “someone gave a damn” energy that creates loyalty.

From Speed to Scale

Founder energy delivers speed: insurgents launch new products three times faster than incumbents. Glossier’s Emily Weiss can spot instantly whether an idea fits. Warby Parker’s founders act with the same conviction.

But speed isn’t the whole story. The real challenge, and opportunity, is scaling founder energy.

Because while start-ups thrive on instinct, big brands can’t rely on one person’s gut. They need systems that embed intent throughout the organisation.

The best scale-ups build what we call “intent tools” — simple frameworks that help every team member act like a founder, even when the founder isn’t in the room. These aren’t rigid brand manuals. They’re clarity tools: quick, actionable ways to keep decisions aligned with brand intent.

That’s how founder energy becomes institutional energy.

Why It Matters for Big Brands

If you’re running a global brand, it’s easy to dismiss this as start-up romanticism. But the insurgent numbers tell a different story: 2% share brands now drive nearly 40% of growth. That’s market power incumbents can’t afford to ignore.

The question isn’t whether you have a founder. It’s whether your teams can think like one.

Ask yourself:

• Do your people understand the brand’s intent so clearly they can make decisions at speed?
• Are you protecting distinctive rituals, or optimising them away?
• Does every choice build connection — or just efficiency?

The Leadership Challenge

Scaling founder energy requires leaders to:

• Codify intent in ways people can act on. Clear frameworks beat thick decks.
• Reward care, not just efficiency. Celebrate the moments where someone gave a damn.
• Simplify decisions by anchoring them to brand feeling, not just metrics.

It’s not about copying start-ups. It’s about rediscovering what made your brand distinctive in the first place — and giving your teams permission to act with that same clarity.

The Future Belongs to Clarity

As barriers to entry fall and consumers demand authenticity, clear brand intent is only becoming more valuable. Digital platforms reward genuine vision. Communities form around shared values, not lowest prices.

That’s why the insurgent advantage isn’t a fad. It’s structural. And it’s available to anyone willing to lead with brand-first clarity.

The real risk isn’t that founders steal your growth. It’s that your teams forget how to think like founders.

The brands that win won’t just optimise. They’ll channel founder energy — clarity of intent, unreasonable care, and decisions made at speed.

Because in the end, growth doesn’t come from scale. It comes from clarity.