Founder-Led Companies Perform Best: Harvard Business Review

Companies led by their founders run circles around the others. Chris Zook, a partner in Bain & Company’s Boston office and a co-head of its global strategy practice, makes this assertion as part of recent Harvard Business Review article he wrote.

Bain’s research found that a “founder’s mentality” helps companies be much more likely to become top performers, Zook said.

Here are some of the reasons why:

• Zook and a co-researcher determined that founders give their businesses a sense of purpose, or insurgency, which means they have a strong purpose to fight against industry norms on behalf of customers usually left out. This focuses dissipates as businesses grow, he said.

• Founders also bring to the table something called a front line obsession, which Zook said involves a love of details and a culture that gives employees at the front line the power and influence, as change-makers.

• The other element – an owner’s mindset – helps executives act quickly and take responsibility for risk, and also for cost. When owners move on, complacency takes hold, and companies begin to avoid risk and actions take longer to the point of bureaucratic delays, he said.

Click here to read the full piece.

Source: Harvard Business Review