My friend Arun Mohan, co-founder of technology startup Radix Health, provides a good outline in this Hypepotamus article regarding how to determine when it is the right time to leave a company you founded. He summarizes his decision into a few key points:
- You must still have the right energy and focus for the job -- if you don't, it will show!
- Understand the phase of company you actually like and enjoy (e.g., growing from 0 to 10 or 10 to 100 employees is much different than running a company of 500+ employees).
- Are you learning what you want and challenging yourself? If not, perhaps it's time to move on.
- You should leave before the team becomes too dependent on you and cannot problem solve or develop the right solutions on their own.
- Can you still help the organization in a meaningful and impactful way? If not, then you should reevaluate your ongoing value to the team.
- Given a company's growth, do you still have the right experience and expertise for the job?
- Before you make an exit, the organization must have a clear path forward. You should help lay out what that plan will look like, and ensure there are as few hiccups to the next phase as possible.
At the end of the day, the decision is deeply personal, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. But, the framework above is a useful guide to any founder considering exiting his or her startup.
There’s no formula for deciding when to leave a company you started. Choosing whether to stay or go is deeply personal, and my decision to leave was difficult. But it had become clear that I needed a break, had less to contribute as our organization continued to grow, felt less drawn to scaling the business than starting one, and was comfortable with the path forward. If you take the time to understand what’s best for you, what’s best for your team, and where those things intersect, you’ll make a decision that you’ll be happy with.
