After years of slow growth, the business doubled the year after buying out their third partner who consistently resisted change. Removing this source of friction and misalignment acted like "taking the brakes off," enabling the remaining two founders to make decisions and execute rapidly.
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Entrepreneurs often prefer being the indispensable "most valuable player" because it feels good and gives them control. However, this ego-driven desire makes the business less valuable and prevents it from scaling. To truly grow, a founder must transition from the court to the owner's box.
The founders transformed production by moving from batching ten guitars to a one-piece flow system. An advisor's simple question, "What would you rather have? 10 half-done guitars or one done guitar?" unlocked their understanding of cash flow, working capital, and efficiency.
The founders stopped doing repair work, even though it brought in steady revenue, because constant customer interruptions prevented the focused work needed to build new guitars. They locked the door to distractions in order to scale their core manufacturing business.
Gumroad's CEO credits their rapid development to his role as a solo decision-maker. This structure eliminates the lengthy processes of gaining internal buy-in and creating extensive documentation (PRDs, specs) common in larger organizations, which are often more about alignment than execution.
When Jeff Braverman joined his family's struggling nut business, he didn't just ask for a job. He made it clear he needed full control to implement his vision, promising to deliver results. This ultimatum was crucial for overcoming the founders' inertia and enabling true transformation.
When COVID revenue dropped to zero, SkillVari's founder seized the opportunity to buy out their India-centric, impact-focused Series A investors for 50% of their original $1.2M investment. This strategic move regained control and aligned the cap table with their new global, software-first vision.
When Front Office Sports realized an investor was a "buyer, not a strategic partner," they didn't wait. They proactively found a new, more aligned investor (Jeff Zucker's Redbird IMI) and engineered a deal to buy out the previous firm, providing them a return while freeing the company to pursue a more aggressive growth strategy.
When the pandemic decimated their hardware business, SkillVari's founders bought out their investors for 50 cents on the dollar. This move gave them freedom to pivot to a software-led model and capture all subsequent upside, turning near-zero revenue into a $1.5M run rate.
The business grew quickly because its three co-founders each brought a distinct, essential skill: creative design, business management, and deep product knowledge (fandom). This division of labor allowed them to scale the company while still working their other full-time jobs, with each founder's expertise complementing the others.
A key to M&A success is creating a founder-friendly environment. Avoid killing entrepreneurial spirit by forcing founders into a rigid matrix organization. Instead, maintain the structures that made them successful and accelerate them by providing resources from the parent company.
