Glossary term

Founder bottleneck

A situation where too many product decisions depend on the founder, slowing the team and limiting its ability to operate independently.

Also known as: founder dependency, CEO bottleneck

A founder bottleneck develops when the founder remains the main source of context, approval and product direction as the company grows.

The founder may still be making good decisions. The problem is that the organisation cannot move without their involvement. Solving it requires transferring context and trust, not simply removing the founder from meetings.