Lead with a founders mindset

Founders are frequently displaced from the CEO role at the point where the business needs growth capital to scale and institutional investors join the board. An experienced industry operator is typically brought in; a “professional manager”. Perhaps the founder finds the new level of strategic management required hard to master. It may be because the founder is struggling to delegate effectively or to hire the talent required to take the business to the next level. Sometimes the investors simply want their own person in control.

They may be right; every circumstance is different. However, an exceptional founder CEO might be able to lead the company to success, and that’s a very appealing prospect in principle. In my experience, if that person has a growth mindset and sufficient interest in every aspect of the business, like Robert Small Small did at Miniclip , then at minimum, it extends the duration of founder leadership. Rob went on to build a unicorn.

Notwithstanding this, many investors believe that founders typically become a net liability at that point and hold the business back. My own view, which I articulate in my new book Founder’s Legacy, is that this need not be the case. I would go further and say that many mature companies could do with a large dose of founder mentality to unlock greater dynamism and innovation.

Chris Zook and James Allen, in their book The Founder’s Mentality, describe how founder-led companies that grow profitably to scale often consider themselves insurgents, waging war on their industry on behalf of underserved customers. Such founder-led companies possess a clear sense of mission. They foster deep feelings of personal responsibility for the company among their employees. They abhor complexity and bureaucracy. They are obsessed with the details of the business and celebrate the frontline employees who deal directly with customers. Sounds quite appealing in principle, doesn’t it?

Think how frequently you come into contact with corporate cultures that lack these very qualities. More often than not in my experience. Hollowed out cultures where employees have no sense of mission. Customer contact staff that sound defeated and know that what they are providing isn’t good enough. Cumbersome processes that take far too long to deal with your business. Many of these corporations need to reinvent themselves – and to rediscover the hunger, energy and passion that nurtured them in the early stages of the life of the business.

So we should ask ourselves, what are the strengths, rather than the weaknesses, of a founder leader? And how can we harness that mindset and behaviour to reinvent our corporations?

·???????? Founders have a powerful sense of attachment – both emotional as well as literal ownership of their business. It’s not just ‘my next career move’.

·???????? Consider the energy, drive, pace and passion that the likes of Steve Jobs and Jeff Bezos bring. In sharp contrast to professionally trained corporate managers.

·???????? Founders are purpose/mission driven not process driven. The outcome matters deeply. This drives innovation and creativity.

·???????? Risk taking is considered ‘business as usual’ for founders. Not an exceptional activity that needs a hefty business case.

·???????? The founder often commands tremendous loyalty and support from team members. They will go the extra mile for them.

These traits are so valuable that developing a founder into a CEO and surrounding them with outstanding people could be a winning ticket. This founder mentality is not just about a person; it’s about a mindset—a mindset that non-founder CEOs would do well to adopt. And a mindset that could be the foundation for a set of values and behaviours that allows the business to adapt and innovate to keep pace with the kind of marketplace and business environment that every business now faces.

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Simon Court

For more on this topic and many others, see my new book, Founder’s Legacy – Fifty Game-Changing Leadership Lessons for Building a Great Business, published by An Inc. Original (2024).