THE CASE: The Micromanaging Founder
Vikram founded a successful startup. Now 200 employees. But still reviews every PR, approves every hire, attends every customer call. Team frustrated. Decisions bottlenecked. Growth stalling. The behaviors that built the company now strangling it.
60% of startups fail because founders can't delegate (HBR). Founder's Trap: The hands-on skills that built the company become bottlenecks at scale.
The Evidence
60% fail due to founder bottleneck (HBR)
Delegation = 35% faster growth (McKinsey)
Founder coaching: 50% improved delegation (YC)
The Founder Letting Go Framework
The "What Only I Can Do" Test
List everything you touch. Mark only items that ONLY YOU can do. Everything else? Delegate or stop.
- Hire leaders you trust to make decisions without you
- Define guardrails, not approvals
- "I'm delegating X to you. Here are the boundaries."
The Experiment
For 2 weeks, delegate 3 things you currently control. Don't intervene. Check results. Did the world end?
Sources
- HBR. Why Founders Fail to Scale. 2023.
- McKinsey. Scaling Through Delegation. 2023.
Key Takeaways
- The skills that built the company become bottlenecks at scale
- Ask: "What can ONLY I do?" Delegate everything else
- Set guardrails, not approvals