Co-founders moving on is an interesting topic that I’ve changed my mind on a bit over time.
Looking at AIM-incubated organisations there were a few initially that kept the same two co-founders for a long while. But more recently there has been more diversity of routes:
Organisations doing really well with only one founder from the start
A bunch where where one founder left around the 2 year mark and it seems like the right decision for the org. (By then you’ve built something that exists a bit beyond the two of you and having one organisational leader building an exec team around them could make more sense. )
I think that generally has pushed me (and I think others at AIM) to think that two co-founders staying for the long haul isn’t always the ideal to strive for. As I understand it, AIM’s messaging in the incubation program at the moment has shifted a bit to accommodate that.
Some other things to note:
There can certainly be cases where a co-founder leaves because of conflict, or especially early on, or it might not have been ideal timing for the organisation
There have been organisations initially in category 1 and 2 that then did bring a second person into the exec team who is co-executive again, and
I think more traditional wisdom in other sectors can often be that they’d love to see founders really be driven by their commitment to this project and stick it out for a long time.
I think that didn’t directly answer your question but hope that helped!
Thanks Verónica!
Co-founders moving on is an interesting topic that I’ve changed my mind on a bit over time.
Looking at AIM-incubated organisations there were a few initially that kept the same two co-founders for a long while. But more recently there has been more diversity of routes:
Organisations doing really well with only one founder from the start
A bunch where where one founder left around the 2 year mark and it seems like the right decision for the org. (By then you’ve built something that exists a bit beyond the two of you and having one organisational leader building an exec team around them could make more sense. )
I think that generally has pushed me (and I think others at AIM) to think that two co-founders staying for the long haul isn’t always the ideal to strive for. As I understand it, AIM’s messaging in the incubation program at the moment has shifted a bit to accommodate that.
Some other things to note:
There can certainly be cases where a co-founder leaves because of conflict, or especially early on, or it might not have been ideal timing for the organisation
There have been organisations initially in category 1 and 2 that then did bring a second person into the exec team who is co-executive again, and
I think more traditional wisdom in other sectors can often be that they’d love to see founders really be driven by their commitment to this project and stick it out for a long time.
I think that didn’t directly answer your question but hope that helped!