v) Founder's Dilemma

Not understanding the "founder's dilemma" in an entrepreneurial organisation. As an entrepreneurial organisation is successful and grows, the management skills and resources (mostly finance) required for the organisation to remain successful are usually found outside the organisation.

It can be hard for the founding senior executive to be willing to let go as he/she has a strong emotional attachment to what he/she has developed. Sometimes the founder can be found an alternative role within the organisation.

Linked with the founders dilemma is a need to understand the mental mindsets of founders:

"...founders usually bring a single-minded focus, think long-term, can spot an opportunity and have a record for building a business and making money..."
Anthony Macdonald, 2023

Furthermore,

"...founders can be very strange, obsessive people.....it can be a virtue or a curse, refusing to deviate from a vision or goal...... building something that stands the test of time is the goal..."
Niki Scevak as quoted by Jessica Sier, 2023

Founders’ stress 

Introduction
Research on approximately 400 founders has found that being your own boss can be liberating but it does increase stress levels.
“… Almost half had high stress, around one third reported suffering from burnout and 10% had panic attacks (compared with less than 4% of the overall population)…”
Start-up Snapshot as quoted by Yolanda Redrup, 2024
Furthermore, there are some stories of
“…Founders developing adrenal disorders of constant exposure to high levels of cortisol, turning to micro-dosing hallucinogens to manage their stress struggles with insomnia. Managing anxiety is part of the job description….”
Yolanda Redrup, 2024