5 ms·

Do you have some examples of where that has worked in the medium - long term? (i.e longer than the 2-3 year mark most of these founders have bailed out at) I a

by hartror 16y ago

Do you have some examples of where that has worked in the medium - long term? (i.e longer than the 2-3 year mark most of these founders have bailed out at) I am guessing it can work but founders/entrepreneurs aren't necessarily the best managers and are likely to get bored and be looking for their next startup. As a new owner of a company it seems to make sense to transition the senior management to people who are more suited to managing and running a company rather than those who like building a company. This goes two fold for those companies who have primarily technical founders who are almost always unsuited for the roles in senior management.

tptacek 16y ago
Sure: IMDB, Audible, and Zappos. Also, the issue isn't that the founders leave; it's that the energy does. Founders are always going to leave.
- hartror 16y ago
  But isn't that the issue? The energy tends to come from the founders so how do you reliably transition away from the founders, whether it is without full company integration or not?
  - tptacek 16y ago
    No. The issue isn't that the founders leave. It's that the team dies.
    - jmathai 16y ago
      I have to agree with hartror. If the founders leave then what are you left with? It sounds great in theory that a team can keep the motivation and innovation coming but ultimately that's the job of the founders - and founders aren't easily replaced.
      - PaulJoslin 16y ago
        Reddit's Founders left the company and since then it has grown to become bigger and better and exceed everyone's expectations.
        doki_pen 16y ago
        Could it possibly be that some of the employees are special people? There is no magic bullet. If the right people are in a position where the can succeed, they will. If you don't have the right people, it doesn't matter what scheme you employee, it won't work.
        PaulJoslin 16y ago
        That is my point doki. The OP I replied to, said that once the founder left - not even a good team would be able to survive. However, Reddit had some innovative founders, who came up with a new concept, then got acquired and eventually the founders left. However, due to its great team (and passionate community) it has continued to grow and become something amazing. Therefore neither getting acquired or the founders leaving caused a negative effect.
      - portman 16y ago
        "If the founders leave then what are you left with?" By this logic, the maximum life of any company is about 40 years. Walmart and ExxonMobil are two examples of companies that became gargantuan long after their founders had left. In fact, of the Fortune 5000, I would bet the majority no longer employ their founders.
  - tomkarlo 16y ago
    Regardless of whether you get acquired or not, if you build a company that won't persist without your individual presence, the process is still incomplete. (And what you really have is a vehicle for your individual talent.) Any company that's supposed to last more than a few years must be build so that it can handle key people leaving, because that's what people always do in the long term, one way or the other.
    - Vivtek 16y ago
      This reminds me of some quoted wisdom I heard back in the 80's about management styles and Star Trek: the difference between Picard and Kirk is that when Picard was away or taken over by an alien or what have you, the bridge crew could cope with the situation, while Kirk's absence meant that the Enterprise was utterly helpless. If your team can't fight Romulans when you're down on the planet, you've failed as a manager, was the moral of the story.
- TY 16y ago
  Interestingly, all of them purchased by Amazon.
  - nostrademons 16y ago
    YouTube and Android as well, both purchased by Google.
philwelch 16y ago
Bungie.
lancewiggs 16y ago
Trade Me - the New Zealand site that owns Auctions, motors, and half of the property and jobs markets in the country. It was bought by Fairfax Media, the biggest media company hereabouts, and they followed the golden rule for several years now. The founder is gone, but the CEO is a tech and the site still dominates both in numbers and hearts and minds.

by hartror 16y ago

tptacek 16y ago

Sure: IMDB, Audible, and Zappos. Also, the issue isn't that the founders leave; it's that the energy does. Founders are always going to leave.

hartror 16y ago
But isn't that the issue? The energy tends to come from the founders so how do you reliably transition away from the founders, whether it is without full company integration or not?
- tptacek 16y ago
  No. The issue isn't that the founders leave. It's that the team dies.
  - jmathai 16y ago
    I have to agree with hartror. If the founders leave then what are you left with? It sounds great in theory that a team can keep the motivation and innovation coming but ultimately that's the job of the founders - and founders aren't easily replaced.
    - PaulJoslin 16y ago
      Reddit's Founders left the company and since then it has grown to become bigger and better and exceed everyone's expectations.
      - doki_pen 16y ago
        Could it possibly be that some of the employees are special people? There is no magic bullet. If the right people are in a position where the can succeed, they will. If you don't have the right people, it doesn't matter what scheme you employee, it won't work.
        PaulJoslin 16y ago
        That is my point doki. The OP I replied to, said that once the founder left - not even a good team would be able to survive. However, Reddit had some innovative founders, who came up with a new concept, then got acquired and eventually the founders left. However, due to its great team (and passionate community) it has continued to grow and become something amazing. Therefore neither getting acquired or the founders leaving caused a negative effect.
    - portman 16y ago
      "If the founders leave then what are you left with?" By this logic, the maximum life of any company is about 40 years. Walmart and ExxonMobil are two examples of companies that became gargantuan long after their founders had left. In fact, of the Fortune 5000, I would bet the majority no longer employ their founders.
- tomkarlo 16y ago
  Regardless of whether you get acquired or not, if you build a company that won't persist without your individual presence, the process is still incomplete. (And what you really have is a vehicle for your individual talent.) Any company that's supposed to last more than a few years must be build so that it can handle key people leaving, because that's what people always do in the long term, one way or the other.
  - Vivtek 16y ago
    This reminds me of some quoted wisdom I heard back in the 80's about management styles and Star Trek: the difference between Picard and Kirk is that when Picard was away or taken over by an alien or what have you, the bridge crew could cope with the situation, while Kirk's absence meant that the Enterprise was utterly helpless. If your team can't fight Romulans when you're down on the planet, you've failed as a manager, was the moral of the story.
TY 16y ago
Interestingly, all of them purchased by Amazon.
- nostrademons 16y ago
  YouTube and Android as well, both purchased by Google.

philwelch 16y ago

Bungie.

lancewiggs 16y ago

Trade Me - the New Zealand site that owns Auctions, motors, and half of the property and jobs markets in the country. It was bought by Fairfax Media, the biggest media company hereabouts, and they followed the golden rule for several years now. The founder is gone, but the CEO is a tech and the site still dominates both in numbers and hearts and minds.