Replacing the Founder without Breaking the Company
Founder transitions fail more often than they succeed. The companies that survive treat the transition as design, not event.
What usually goes wrong
- The founder has not actually decided to leave
- The successor is selected against the founder's profile, not the company's needs
- The board treats the announcement as the transition
- The senior team continues to manage upward to the founder
What works
- The founder defines a clean role, or accepts no operating role at all
- The successor is selected against the company the board wants to build
- The transition is sequenced over months, not weeks
- The board enforces the new line of authority publicly
https://niklaslindahl.com/essays/replacing-the-founder-without-breaking-the-company