The Founder’s Greatest Asset: YOU

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my years of founding, advising, and investing in companies, it’s this:?your business will never outgrow you.?You might expand your team, refine your strategy, and scale your operations, but the real bottleneck, or the real breakthrough, will always be you. As I often comment “You will never out-earn your learning”.

When I started my third company, I thought success depended on getting the business mechanics right. Market research, financial planning, sales strategies, all the things I’ve been sharing in this series, and over many of them, I became obsessive. But what I didn’t realise at the time was that the biggest risk to my company’s success wasn’t external competition, cashflow or market forces.?It was me.?My mindset, my unconscious bias, my blind spots, my ability (or inability) to evolve.

The founder’s growth curve

Every company has a growth curve, and founders have one too, and it’s huge! The problem is that most of us don’t realise we need to grow faster than our businesses simply because, and as I’ve said already in this series, growing people scale businesses, not the other way round.

At the start, you’re the doer. You handle everything: sales, marketing, product, customer service, even fixing the printer when it jams. But as the company grows, your role changes. And if you don’t change with it, you become the bottleneck. Ironically, the first thing a founder needs to come to terms with is delegation and letting go, and these are two of the hardest things to do.

I remember sitting in a meeting where my leadership team was waiting for me to make a decision; one that, truthfully, I wasn’t equipped to make. I’d spent so much time building the company that I’d neglected to build myself. That moment forced me to ask:?What kind of leader (not doer), do I need to become to take this business where it needs to go?

The shift from technician to leader

It’s the classic founder’s dilemma. We start as technicians, experts in our craft, whether it’s designing products, building a widget, delivering a service, or writing code. But founding a company isn’t about being the best at doing the work. It’s about being the best at leading others to do it.

The transition isn’t easy. It means:

• Letting go of control?– Learning to trust your team and empower others to make decisions.
• Becoming a visionary?– Shifting your focus from day-to-day operations to long-term strategy.
• Investing in leadership skills?– Because being great at what you do doesn’t automatically make you a great leader.

When you catch me on a video call, you’ll see on my office wall, my favourite saying: “Only do what only you can do”.

James Watt, co-founder of BrewDog,?faced this firsthand. In the early days, he was everywhere, brewing, packaging, selling. But as BrewDog grew, he had to evolve from a hands-on operator to a strategic leader, shifting his focus to brand expansion, investment, and culture. That shift turned BrewDog into a global brand.

Unlearning to relearn

One of the hardest things about being a founder is that what got you here won’t get you there. The skills that made you a great startup entrepreneur might make you a terrible CEO of a scaling company.

I had to?unlearn?my instinct to micromanage, my need to be involved in every decision, my reluctance to delegate. And I had to?relearn?how to coach, how to set a vision and let others execute it, how to build a culture instead of just running a business.

It’s uncomfortable. But growth always is. Perhaps for you, the trigger to seek help and support.

The personal development blueprint

So, how do you actively work on yourself while running a company? Here’s what worked for me:

• Reading and learning:?The best founders are lifelong learners. I devoured books on leadership, strategy, and psychology. Jim Collins’?Good to Great?and Ray Dalio’s?Principles?were game-changers.
• Surrounding myself with smarter people:?Coaches, mentors, and peer networks made me better. If you’re the most knowledgeable person in the room, you’re in the wrong room!
• Self-reflection and feedback:?One of the toughest but most transformative things I ever did was ask my team, “What’s one thing I could do better as a leader?” The answers weren’t always easy to hear, but they made me better.
• Prioritising health and resilience:?Running a business is a mental marathon. Exercise, sleep, and managing stress aren’t luxuries, they’re requirements for sustained leadership.

The founder’s mindset: Adapt or die

Some of the best businesses fail not because the market changes, but because the founder doesn’t. Stubbornness, ego, bias, unconscious or otherwise, and an inability to evolve are silent killers of great companies.

The most successful founders I know aren’t just relentless about building their businesses.?They’re relentless about building themselves.?They invest in their own growth as much as they invest in their company’s.

Your business is a reflection of you

At the end of the day, your company and its culture, are a direct reflection of who you are. If you want it to grow and evolve beyond the limitations of the individual,?you have to grow first.

So, ask yourself:?What kind of founder do you need to become to take your business where it needs to go?

And then, get to work.

Challenge 21: Ask yourself “What’s holding you back?” and before you answer superficially “Nothing”, think carefully about the implications of your response will be on the future of your company as it persists beyond your tenure.

Remember – I’m here to help – I’ve been there, where you are, and I’ve survived.

Drop me a line for a chat here