How
startup founders fare when they become employees
When startups hire founders of failed ventures as employees,
they bring on board committed risk-takers
Krish Subramanian,
co-founder of SaaS startup Chargebee, finds himself in a unique place. Close to 10% of
his 160-strong team comprise former founders. Was this by design or chance? The
latter, he says.
With the failure rate amongst startups as high as 70% to 90% (depending on which study you believe), these founders are bound to find their way back into the ecosystem if they choose not to try a business again — but it’s not always easy to transition from owner to employee.
For founders who join startups, dealing with failure includes acknowledging that their startup journey has helped them. “My biggest learning was that you are better equipped in the job market after an entrepreneurial stint,” said Sampath Jagannathan, who ran Brigge, a social network startup that shut shop last year due to lack of funds.
Subramanian says former founders make for employees who have a strong sense of commitment. “They don’t define boundaries. They take ownership for their work and the company’s success,” he says.
Ankur Nanda, now project manager at Chargebee was founder and CEO of Canvass, an integrated marketing platform for six years. “Founders are open to partnerships, collaboration, whatever it takes to make the company a success. And that mindset stays even if you’re no longer a founder but an employee,” he says.
When a startup has as many ‘founders’ on its rolls as Chargebee does, it has a cascading effect. “It brings in an entrepreneurial culture and gives people heroes to shadow,” says Subramanian.
While Chargebee hired all the former founders now on its rolls, Girish Mathrubootham of Freshworks has several founders who came in through acquisitions. With nine acquisitions till date, Freshworks has close to 15-20 former founders as employees.
“Once you are an entrepreneur, you look at problems differently. When you’ve run your own company, the need to solve the problem comes naturally,” Mathrubootham says. “When the company grows, it is easier to get people who will follow the established path. Sometimes you need to break this and create a new way of doing things. Again, this comes more naturally to an entrepreneur.”
Close to 20 former founders work in software product company Capillary Technologies. Aneesh Reddy, co-founder and CEO, says having them on the team as the company evolves is crucial. “As the company grows, you need people who are ambidextrous and former founders generally fit the bill.”
Rohan Mahadar, who used to run his own company and joined Capillary after a corporate stint, heads Instore AI, the company’s AI and machine learning product for retail. The product was the fastest to hit a million dollars run rate, says Reddy. He adds that an entrepreneurial stint humbles a person. “As a founder, you have done everything from being the peon to the CEO.”
Arpit Agarwal of Blume Ventures says in many cases, founders walk the extra mile to find a position for a former entrepreneur even though the skill-wise fit may not be obvious. For instance, when Amrutash Misra approached Chargebee after a few years as an entrepreneur, there was no open position. The Chargebee co-founders created one for him as creative director.
For former founders, the biggest relief about becoming an employee is doing away with what Misra describes as “decision fatigue”. Misra used to run MultiStory Learning, a startup in the English learning space, which continues to operate under his co-founders. “I reached a point where I didn’t want to make any decisions. I needed to pause and slow down. As a founder, every decision is yours and it can get tough,” he says.
Not having to worry about macro issues came as a relief to Vaibhav Garg, who now works at Zoppr. He ran Indihaat, a handicrafts retail company, for two years before he shut shop. “The buck doesn’t stop with me here. Aspects like funding, meeting targets, acceleration were always on my mind when I was a founder. At Zoppr, I have the liberty to not worry about these,” he says.
Srikrishnan Ganesan, who ran mobile-first user engagement platform Konotor before the company got acquired by Freshworks in 2015, says he has the best of both worlds now. “If you’re leading a team, it’s still the same. The benefit is that you have a sounding board, in the form of a boss, and greater resources,” he says.
When he and his co-founders ran Konotor, they didn’t have expertise in areas like digital marketing, HR and law. “We can now focus on what we enjoy — building the product. HR is managed by a team as is legal.” Ganesan leads a team of 50 that works on Freshchat, a product of Freshworks.
For the employer, it’s not always easy working with multiple former founders “When people come from different systems, they need to be taught to welcome disagreement. There is learning in disagreement and this is something I tell all employees, not just former founders,” says Mathrubootham. He adds that former founders come with a big appetite and need to be given meaningful big problems to solve.
“Founders are fiercely independent people. They need to be given the right level of alignment and direction to make sure they are performing optimally,” says Agarwal of Blume Ventures. “It’s not about altruism. Some ex-founders have gone on to make their new employers wildly successful.”
With the failure rate amongst startups as high as 70% to 90% (depending on which study you believe), these founders are bound to find their way back into the ecosystem if they choose not to try a business again — but it’s not always easy to transition from owner to employee.
For founders who join startups, dealing with failure includes acknowledging that their startup journey has helped them. “My biggest learning was that you are better equipped in the job market after an entrepreneurial stint,” said Sampath Jagannathan, who ran Brigge, a social network startup that shut shop last year due to lack of funds.
Subramanian says former founders make for employees who have a strong sense of commitment. “They don’t define boundaries. They take ownership for their work and the company’s success,” he says.
Ankur Nanda, now project manager at Chargebee was founder and CEO of Canvass, an integrated marketing platform for six years. “Founders are open to partnerships, collaboration, whatever it takes to make the company a success. And that mindset stays even if you’re no longer a founder but an employee,” he says.
When a startup has as many ‘founders’ on its rolls as Chargebee does, it has a cascading effect. “It brings in an entrepreneurial culture and gives people heroes to shadow,” says Subramanian.
While Chargebee hired all the former founders now on its rolls, Girish Mathrubootham of Freshworks has several founders who came in through acquisitions. With nine acquisitions till date, Freshworks has close to 15-20 former founders as employees.
“Once you are an entrepreneur, you look at problems differently. When you’ve run your own company, the need to solve the problem comes naturally,” Mathrubootham says. “When the company grows, it is easier to get people who will follow the established path. Sometimes you need to break this and create a new way of doing things. Again, this comes more naturally to an entrepreneur.”
Close to 20 former founders work in software product company Capillary Technologies. Aneesh Reddy, co-founder and CEO, says having them on the team as the company evolves is crucial. “As the company grows, you need people who are ambidextrous and former founders generally fit the bill.”
Rohan Mahadar, who used to run his own company and joined Capillary after a corporate stint, heads Instore AI, the company’s AI and machine learning product for retail. The product was the fastest to hit a million dollars run rate, says Reddy. He adds that an entrepreneurial stint humbles a person. “As a founder, you have done everything from being the peon to the CEO.”
Arpit Agarwal of Blume Ventures says in many cases, founders walk the extra mile to find a position for a former entrepreneur even though the skill-wise fit may not be obvious. For instance, when Amrutash Misra approached Chargebee after a few years as an entrepreneur, there was no open position. The Chargebee co-founders created one for him as creative director.
For former founders, the biggest relief about becoming an employee is doing away with what Misra describes as “decision fatigue”. Misra used to run MultiStory Learning, a startup in the English learning space, which continues to operate under his co-founders. “I reached a point where I didn’t want to make any decisions. I needed to pause and slow down. As a founder, every decision is yours and it can get tough,” he says.
Not having to worry about macro issues came as a relief to Vaibhav Garg, who now works at Zoppr. He ran Indihaat, a handicrafts retail company, for two years before he shut shop. “The buck doesn’t stop with me here. Aspects like funding, meeting targets, acceleration were always on my mind when I was a founder. At Zoppr, I have the liberty to not worry about these,” he says.
Srikrishnan Ganesan, who ran mobile-first user engagement platform Konotor before the company got acquired by Freshworks in 2015, says he has the best of both worlds now. “If you’re leading a team, it’s still the same. The benefit is that you have a sounding board, in the form of a boss, and greater resources,” he says.
When he and his co-founders ran Konotor, they didn’t have expertise in areas like digital marketing, HR and law. “We can now focus on what we enjoy — building the product. HR is managed by a team as is legal.” Ganesan leads a team of 50 that works on Freshchat, a product of Freshworks.
For the employer, it’s not always easy working with multiple former founders “When people come from different systems, they need to be taught to welcome disagreement. There is learning in disagreement and this is something I tell all employees, not just former founders,” says Mathrubootham. He adds that former founders come with a big appetite and need to be given meaningful big problems to solve.
“Founders are fiercely independent people. They need to be given the right level of alignment and direction to make sure they are performing optimally,” says Agarwal of Blume Ventures. “It’s not about altruism. Some ex-founders have gone on to make their new employers wildly successful.”
Ranjani Ayyar | September
02, 2018
https://tech.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/startups/how-startup-founders-fare-when-they-become-employees/65643415
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