I never want founders to QUIT, but sometimes they should STOP
“ Has quitting culture now crossed into Founder CEOs? “ SaaStr’s Jason Lemkin thinks it might have after observing some CEOs just plain up and abandon their startups, even after raising large sums of capital.
What’s my take? I’ve had some experiences, in both my time as an angel and as a VC, where I do believe the CEO ‘quit’ — which I’ll define as gave up too early primarily because of their own lack of fight or incentive. However, I’ve had twice as many situations where the founder needed help being told they could (or even should) stop.
These companies usually raised modest amounts of capital (by venture standards), and often even had some of it left in the bank. But you could feel it — exhaustion, attrition, lack of growth, falling in and out of PMF. Either they were wrong about their market opportunity or they were becoming lapped by competitors. Maybe there was a pivot or two in the rearview. Probably one of the cofounders had already left.
Sometimes they’re afraid to stop because of the investors. Wanting to maintain their reputation or live up to expectations. Or because the VCs want to keep the company alive, not take the write off, not deal with the impact of a probable zero.
But more often it’s because they’re great, hard-working, amazing founders who don’t know how to stop. Who believe they won’t recover from failure and worry about what their peers will think. So you need to speak truth. To tell them there actually might be more value, growth and mental health, if they shift to landing this company and getting on to the next one.
There’s often relief when a founder hears what they already knew — this one ain’t gonna be it. It’s a delicate conversation — I’m sure I’ve been imperfect in having them. You can then focus on what they really want and care about. A product that lives on somewhere? A team that gets severance? Customers who have ample notice? Portions of the company’s IP sold back to the founders so they can try again later if they want?
Quitting often closes doors abruptly. Stopping can actually open some.
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Originally published at https://hunterwalk.com on February 3, 2025.
