Founder-Led Businesses – Succession Planning
by Edith Carmichael and Meera Joshi
For 25 years, Freshminds has been at the forefront of helping founder-led businesses find their next generation of leadership.
Leading and growing a founder-led organisation can come with unique challenges. When you have poured investment, time and resource into your now thriving business, you may want to find someone who loves it as much as you do.
You’ll also want the right talent, with appropriate experience and with a fresh perspective, to accelerate change and growth tactfully. It’s called succession planning for a reason.
Our recent work in this space demonstrates how Freshminds works hand in hand with incumbent leadership who may be thinking about taking a step away from the business, whether that be in 1 or 5 years’ time.
Often, they will look to bring in either a Chief of Staff, a CCO or COO who may then take over as CEO further down the line.
Being a people-first search firm, we have a knack for understanding nuances. We are honest and upfront about the strengths and challenges that different personalities and experiences would bring to the firm.
This piece looks at some common challenges that founder-led businesses may encounter, and how Freshmind would approach them.
Getting to know you, not the job description
It may seem like the quickest, and most cost-effective option to curate the job description, advertise through your own channels and screen the incoming CVs. Working with specialised search firms such as Freshminds, however, will maximise the chances of candidates being committed to the process, by screening both on role motivations and motivations for moving.
We spend time getting to know you, and your team, to ensure we articulate the reality of the company culture, and therefore ensure we are matching that with what prospective candidates desire. This means, when it comes to interviewing, you only need to carve out a half day to meet a select few who have been thoroughly screened.
We work with you so that these selected candidates are not a surprise, we'll have curated this shortlist with your input and our market expertise.
Focus on impact, not on brands
It can be an easy mental shortcut to focus on the impressive companies and brands on the candidate's CV, without analysing what they have delivered within a role. After thoroughly understanding the requirements and projects with which this individual will be involved, we structure our screening to focus on what the candidate has delivered and executed, highlighting tangible experience to prove competency and approach.
Compensation expectations
For a business that perhaps hasn’t hired at the leadership level before, it can be hard to know what the realistic expectations of a super impactful COO may be. Freshminds will provide guides aligned with current market conditions, so you know what to expect. Factors to consider will include experience levels, skillset, educational attainments and previous projects and role
Maximise offers accepted and minimise money wasted
We spend time understanding what the candidates want, the likelihood they’ll take another role and the likelihood of them accepting the position. This helps manage the process all the way through, not just until candidates are introduced. We help manage the offer process, ensuring both parties are happy and there is minimal back and forth on negotiation. It can be a real headache when negotiations turn sour and we do our utmost to ensure expectations are clear from the outset, resulting in a 90% acceptance rate. This also saves you money, repeating hiring cycles and lost time interviewing.
Case studies
CleanTech business looking for CEO and CFO
Freshminds worked with a cleantech firm that had recently received an injection of cash to revitalise the proposition. They had angel investors, an IP, an office and a small skeletal team. Freshminds worked with the angel investor to first find a CEO to take the business off the ground. Nine months later, we then found a CFO to help them with the commercialisation of their finances, both external and internal. Four years later, the team are now 75 people and in the midst of raising Series B funding.
Real estate tech firm hiring CCO
Freshminds partnered with a real estate tech firm, who were looking for a CCO to help push their proposition out to market. The existing team was small, and the demand for their product was increasing, however they needed a commercial leader to help them standardise their processes, deal flow, and go to market strategy. With not much brand visibility and a bare website, Freshminds worked hard to understand the proposition, the potential scale of growth and why this was a risk worth taking for the candidates.
Luxury Jewellery business seeking a COO
Freshminds supported a heritage luxury retail business undergoing CEO succession planning. The organisation was seeking a COO who could support its transition from a traditional, heritage-led model to a more technology-enabled approach to customer engagement and growth.
With a workforce that included long-tenured employees and a strong cultural attachment to tradition, the business needed a leader who could balance innovation with deep respect for its legacy. Freshminds worked closely with the founders to understand the culture, pace of change and operational complexity of the business, delivering a COO capable of guiding the organisation through modernisation without compromising what made it distinctive.
Education agency hiring CEO
Freshminds supported a founder-led digital marketing agency in appointing a new CEO.
With the CEO transitioning into an advisory role and the founders remaining largely hands-off, the business was experiencing ongoing profitability challenges and while revenues continued to grow year on year, margins remained narrow. The organisation needed a commercially minded CEO who could restructure operations, introduce technology-driven efficiencies and identify opportunities to expand the product and geographic offering to drive sustainable margin improvement. Freshminds partnered closely with the founders to assess the strategic priorities and delivered a CEO equipped to lead the next phase of growth.
Entertainment firm hiring CFO and CCO
Freshminds worked with a live entertainment business following a new investment, which required a stronger commercial structure.
The passionate founder team had built a strong brand but lacked formal financial frameworks and commercial decision-making discipline. With investor capital committed, the business needed experienced leadership to bring operational maturity while preserving its creative culture. Freshminds appointed both a CFO and a CCO to join simultaneously, ensuring aligned leadership from day one. Together, they introduced financial structure, strengthened commercial decision-making, and supported the founders in expanding the offering and driving further growth.
