Title: The Founder’s Dilemma
Headings: The Founder’s Dilemma
The Founder’s Dilemma
ExhibitTitle The Trade-Off Entrepreneurs Make
Inside the Founder’s Mind
Growing Pains
Time to Choose
Keeping Founders on Board

Content: We remember the handful of founder-CEOs in corporate America, but they’re the exceptions to the rule. Founders don’t let go easily, though. Four out of five entrepreneurs, my research shows, are forced to step down from the CEO’s post. Most are shocked when investors insist that they relinquish control, and they’re pushed out of office in ways they don’t like and well before they want to abdicate. The change in leadership can be particularly damaging when employees loyal to the founder oppose it. In fact, the manner in which founders tackle their first leadership transition often makes or breaks young enterprises. The transitions take place relatively smoothly if, at the outset, founders are honest about their motives for getting into business. Isn’t that obvious, you may ask. Don’t people start a business to make pots of money? They do.