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Does Your Social Venture Have Founder's Syndrome?

Marcia Stepanek | Friday 16th October 2009

At the start of any social enterprise, the drive and vision of the founder is key: when it comes to social problem-solving, the founder is often on a crusade that has become personal and passionate.

But what happens when the founder won't step out of the way of his own staff to help the organization scale?

Once more today, I heard about a social enterprise CEO who was able to score some promising buy-in from potential marketers and foundationsonly to end up dooming the organization after several months because he wouldn't let his newly hired staff execute on strategy. He ended up stifling innovation, staff development, and brand awareness with his inability to yield control. His lack of focus and unwillingness to abide by his staff's efforts to work with him (or around him) ended up threatening the venture's access to capital and the venture failed to make the transition from pet project to sustainable enterprise.

Do you have a similar story to share?

How can social ventures benefit from the vision and energy of their founders without sacrificing their ability to scale and attract/retain top talent and capital?

How might recruiting a board help reign in a CEO unwilling to be challenged?

What role can marketing play in resolving the problem?

How can outside pressure be brought to bear on helping social enterprises with Founder's Syndrome to address the problem?

What other methods can be used to help the founder help himself/herselfand his/her organization?

Please join us today in a conversation about how best to resolve some of these issues. What have you experienced in your social enterprises or nonprofit ventures? And, how were you able to resolve these issues?

Let us hear from you.

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Marcia Stepanek 22 October 2009

OUt of date? Not by the sound of it from others in the field. Unfortunately, it's still all too common. Separately, I appreciate your point about your own experience and yes, often VCs will say young entrepreneurs don't ask for enough. All best luck to you in your enterprise!

Lavinia Weissman 22 October 2009

I think Founder Syndrome is an out of date disease. I do believe that a founder needs to step aside sometimes and let his/her great people fly.

In truth, the worst syndrome that I see right now back to the late 1990's is the attitude of commerciall and philanthropic investors in how they value business plans and support innovative ideas to market of any kind I could write a book on this subject, but that is not my work. But three times now I have been valued by some of the greatest VC people around and told I did not want enough money or had to prove my product/service worked by resourcing it myself before they will invest. My product/service is now something ready for market and timely for this era of need.

Kevin Long 21 October 2009

I think social ventures with less than a $1MM annual budget can not afford to let their Founder go. I have seen many orgs at these size either shrink down to the bare bones or just level off and stop growing - after the founder has left. Reasons? 1) People are used to following the founder so the other staff have not had to innovate much in the past, 2) The Board of Directors are usually unconnected and unqualified volunteers who don't have proper incentives to make real change happen, and 3) It cost more money than a $1MM social venture is willing to pay for top talent.

Bruno Caiado 21 October 2009

Social Entrepreneurs usually have a very deep relationship with the original drives of the projects they initiate.As social companies evolve, these personal-oriented drives may seem menaced by a more professional and business oriented management and operation. Let's remember that many social entrepreneurs create their NGOs or companies justly to confront the "professional" approach that ignores essential values for a balanced society. Many times, they simply don`t want to "expand" (in a fast or radical way) but to grow organically, respecting a consistent, natural rythm. However, that can also reveal an excessive need to control and a reluctance to delegate, which is an unprofessional behaviour that is typical to "familiar" companies. So just like any company, social entreprises also need governance mechanisms to avoid both the "familiar company" syndrome (leading to unprofessional management) and also the "capitalist expansionism" syndrome (that makes it grow without the proper focus)