Oftentimes, startup entrepreneurs are simply too close to their businesses to get a clear, non-biased look at what may be holding them back from ultimate success. Maybe they lack the required skills or business experience required to identify or correct problems inside their product, process or team. And, more often that not, as a new entrepreneur “you just don’t know, what you don’t know”. And, when the problems become material enough that it could potentially put the company out of business, maybe it is time to hire what I call a RE-founder for your company, to help put it back on the right course.
WHAT IS A RE-FOUNDER?
Everyone knows what a founder or co-founder of a company is; it is the person or persons who formed the business in the very beginning of the company. It was often their business idea that they birthed from a piece of paper, into an up-and-running product and business. Think what Mark Zuckerberg is to Facebook or Jeff Bezos is to Amazon or Bill Gates is to Microsoft.
But, nine times out of ten, a startup is not successful in achieving mass customer adoption of their product or service. And, then, they have to make some important decisions? Is the problem so bad they need to close up shop? Or, they need to reset their sights from building a big venture-backed company, to only building a small lifestyle business? Or, they potentially need to get a new strategy and leadership to pivot the company into a different direction that has a higher odds of seeing scalable success.
It is this last route where I am suggesting you need to hire a RE-founder of the company. The RE-founder will be responsible for doing a critically-needed and non-biased strategic planning process, to thoroughly understand the company’s core strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. And, then they will produce a 3-5 year long term vision and action plan for which the company to follow in hopefully pivoting the business to new heights.
WHERE TO FIND A RE-FOUNDER
In terms of how best to find a RE-Founder for your business, the process is quite similar to the Where to Find a Co-Founder process I wrote in the past. The only differences this time around: (1) you are looking for more of a turnaround expert to help you solve your known pain points; and (2) you are looking to reinvent an existing business, including any or all of the people, product or process. So, instead of starting with a clean piece of paper, you have to rework what you have. Which is more like building a foundation and framing for a new 4,000 square foot two-story single family home, and having to re-architect it to a 4,000 square foot four-family apartment building. You need someone that is good with implementing change within the organization.
HOW TO WORK WITH THE RE-FOUNDER
As the company’s founder, taking on a RE-Founder will require a material shift in the way you have been operating to date. Now, you need to be prepared to get in the “back seat” and go along for the ride. Don’t weigh down the newcomer with legacy thinking or sacred cows—let them do the job you are engaging them to do, to fix the business. This will be a really hard, but necessary, process for most entrepreneurs who like to control every aspect of their business. But, you need to be honest with yourself—there is a reason the business is struggling, and you will most likely have a better outcome (and equity value) if you simply get out of the way of the new expert.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
I have previously written about the importance of failing fast as a startup, so you don’t waste a lot of unnecessary capital. I guess what I am suggesting in this post is once you have hit that fail point on your own, you now have a second option to consider. Instead of simply shuttering the doors, maybe it is as simple as handing the keys off to a different proven executive to take a crack at fixing your business before you close it down. You can never underestimate the importance of leveraging a fresh set of eyes, as the potentially perfect prescription to your woes.
So, after a critical assessment of your business, do you think you need a RE-Founder for your business? If so, let’s do this thing, as time is clearly of the essence.
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