on April 26, 2016 in Columnists, By T Paul Thomas
The majority of my CEO positions involved being brought on board to help the founders once they had accepted venture capital funding. It was commonly referred to as Adult Supervision.
Once, while being interviewed by a founder for the CEO role, I was asked, “Do you not like founders?” He asked that question because he had done some research and discovered that in the majority of cases, when I took over as CEO, the founders either resigned or were terminated.
My best friend happens to be the founder of a company that I was hired as the CEO, so it isn’t that I dislike founders personally, it is just that most founders tend to be their own worst enemy once they accept venture capital.