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Hey, What if the Founder Gets Hit By a Bus? Nada

Posted on May 15, 2008

One of the questions investors in early-stage companies -- both private and public -- often ask is this: What if the founder gets hit by a bus? It is, of course, an investor's way of saying, How much of this company's continuing success requires this man/women at the helm? Most investors skew toward believing that founders of successful companies matter a great deal. A new paper, however, makes the argument that founders are largely expendable. By looking at what happens when founders die, the author concludes that founders are good for ideas, but dispensable for managing the company -- eve...

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