A Request To Founders: Keep Being Founders

There sure isn’t a school that teaches you how to be a founder. No professional consultants, corporate mentors, or MBA programs can truly prepare you for the tough choices or teach you how to lead like a founder. You don’t learn to be a founder from any textbook or degree—you learn on the job.

Over time, you become a repository of lessons—a kind of institution in yourself—where the curriculum is shaped by every success, every failure, and every decision you make.

Yet, despite the challenges and excitement of building something from scratch, it’s all too common for founders to step away from the companies they’ve built with their blood and sweat just as they start to grow.

Why Do Founders Step Away?

It’s a long-standing debate: why do so many founders eventually step away from their own companies, whether by choice or by force? Some boards replace them with professional managers under the guise of scaling up, advising them to hire experienced leaders and step aside.

This shift pushes founders from “creating” to “managing,” a transition that doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Many founders step away from creation, taking on advisory roles or working in innovation labs, distancing themselves from the pulse that once fueled the company’s growth.

There are many instances where this model has worked, a standout example being Microsoft where a “professional CEO” like Satya Nadella has successfully led the global behemoth to greater heights.  

And yet, there are countless examples where passion dims, culture shifts, and companies lose their edge when the founder is no longer actively involved in the creation and vision of the company. 

Take Apple, for example – after Steve Jobs was ousted, the company faced innovation and leadership struggles until his return in 1997. Even Twitter, after Jack Dorsey’s initial departure, went through several leadership changes and a loss of strategic focus until his return in 2015 to steady the ship.

As a founder, I’ve faced my own struggles with the shift from creator to manager. I often felt a sense of guilt, questioning if I was “micromanaging” or simply staying true to my vision. There were countless moments of restlessness, torn between the drive to shape every detail and the growing pressure to manage the team more hands-off.

This inner conflict raised a fundamental question: am I a founder, driven by a specific vision for my company, or am I now a manager, focused solely on leading others? 

Balancing these roles has been challenging but has also reinforced a key insight—those qualities that made me a founder are still essential, even as the company grows.

Finding Your Founder Mode

Reading Paul Graham’s “Founder Mode” brought me a sense of peace in this regard, reassuring me in the choices I was making as a founder rather than merely as a manager.

Graham’s essay gave voice to something many founders feel but rarely express—the disconnect between the urge to innovate and the corporate expectations that often pressure them into management.

Over time, this conflict can lead to disillusionment as the organisation’s culture shifts from creation toward management.

Reflecting on InMobi’s recent journey, for example, it’s become clear to me that staying engaged as a builder and innovator is critical to maintaining the original vision and drive of the organisation.

When my instinct tells me to dive deep, I do it unapologetically. And if it tells me to step away from a team that’s thriving in tandem with the company’s goals, I do that, again, unapologetically.

Here’s my takeaway: if your instincts have brought you this far, they’ve already led you to your own “founder school.”

Whether your gut tells you to step in and micromanage or take a step back, follow it with conviction. You didn’t start out with a rulebook—you relied on instincts. And those instincts are exactly what made you a founder.

At the heart of it all, there’s a simple truth: stay true to the builder within. The world may tell you to manage, to scale, to hand over the reins to seasoned managers—but your success lies in building.