Good Morning [%first_name |Dear Reader%],

I’m Vidhatri Rao, one of the newest members of The Ken’s podcast team. I’ve joined Rahel as a host and producer of 90,000 Hours, where we’ll closely track disruptions and transformations in the workplace. Our goal: figuring out what careers will look like in the future. 

Last week, we met Prajwal Koteshwar, a former founder who now works as the private labels lead at Superk, the supermarket chain bringing grocery stores to India’s small towns. 

We often hear about founders who make it big—those with major funding rounds, buzzy IPOs, or high-profile failures. It reminds me of The Social Network. 

But often overlooked are the legions of founders who step away from their startups to figure out a future where they aren’t at the apex of the organisation. 

In 2012, fresh out of engineering college, Prajwal started Edanta Foods to sell pre-cut fruits and vegetables. Three years later, Edanta was clocking Rs 1.3 crore in revenue. By 2017,  it broke even. 

Things were going well, but the Covid-19 pandemic upended the business. Its main clients—restaurants—were just trying to survive. Prajwal’s team ran into cash flow issues and had to call it quits in November 2021.

Prajwal was left asking: What’s next? He could try building another startup, or he could join an established company. 

He is not alone. In July, The Ken’s Suprita Anupam wrote about the job hunts of failed founders. According to market-data provider Tracxn, over 30,000 Indian startups have shut shop since January 2023. More than 1,800 startups have closed between January and July of this year alone. 

As the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, India has a constant stream of startups coming and going.

In the latest episode of 90,000 Hours, we explored what happens when former founders decide to become employees. 

We featured Prajwal alongside other former founders, including Printo’s Lalana Zaveri and Leap.club’s Anand Sinha. 

Hiring managers often see past entrepreneurial pursuits as red flags. The perception is that ex-founders come with a “founder ego”, an expectation of higher remuneration, generalist skill sets, and a strong desire for autonomy. 

The transition from founder to employee is hard—and it can take a toll.

But there is a specific setting where these individuals are sought after: companies in Series B and C stages. These scaling businesses provide the right mix of structure and challenge, rewarding founders for their unique approach. 

That is exactly where Prajwal found his next opportunity. 

A common thread runs through the journeys of Prajwal, Lalana, and Anand: drive, a high degree of ownership, and the ability to solve a wide range of problems. They bring these qualities to their new roles. Though their initial transitions were far from smooth, it is these traits that keep them going.

Hello again! It’s Rahel, the co-host and co-producer of the 90,000 Hours podcast, and now also the co-author of this newsletter. I’m thrilled to be saying “co-” a lot more, now that Vidhatri is onboard! She is joining me as a co-conspirator (last time, I promise) for all the ambitious plans we have for the show. 

Our conversations with Lalana, Anand, and Prajwal—all of whom made the jump from building their own companies to working within someone else’s—yielded lessons that go far beyond what it means to step away from a startup. They are just as relevant for anyone working inside an organisation, because people who have built something from scratch tend to show up differently.

Here are our three takeaways:

Earlier this year, Anand Sinha joined Masters’ Union (MU) as director of post-graduate programmes, just months after he and his co-founder Ragini Das made the difficult decision to wind down Leap.club.

He admits the first few weeks were rough. He was filled with a restless energy and a strong sense of ownership, but wasn’t sure what exactly to own. 

So he went back to first principles. Anand began having one-on-one conversations with hundreds of MBA students at MU, trying to understand what brought them there and what they hoped to get out of the experience.

That’s when things started to click.

This deep sense of ownership isn’t unique to Anand. Speak to enough former founders, and one thing becomes clear: they are hardwired to care deeply. This care becomes their compass in new roles, helping them find their footing and fuel.

Prajwal told us the same thing—that he only found his groove once he felt full ownership of the private labels vertical in his current role.

Anand told me he loves to surround himself with colleagues who think like founders. 

Not everyone is meant to start a company, he said, but many can still carry that mentality. These are the kinds of people he looks for when building teams, the ones who get excited about the problem itself, not just the shiny outcome.

His usual advice is, “Don’t chase results, chase the problem.”

Not every founder is obsessed with being at the top. Lalana realised early on that the business might actually do better without her. She acted on that insight, stepping away only after building a solid second line of leadership at Printo. 

That’s when the hard part began: figuring out what came next.

After a few painful months, her search ended following a meeting with her friend Phanindra Sama, the founder of Redbus. After a half-day tour of the company, he told Lalana something that shifted her perspective.

He said she wasn’t an “ops person”; she was a leader-maker, with a rare ability to spot, coach, and empower others.

That realisation led her to her next chapter. For the past 12 years, Lalana has been an executive coach with Navgati, a 20-year-old organisation specialising in leadership development. 

Since then, she has worked with founders, CXOs, and teams across the country–even helping others navigate the same transition she made back in 2012.

You can hear Lalana’s story, along with Anand’s and Prajwal’s, in the latest episode of 90,000 Hours.  

Until next week,
Vidhatri and Rahel

Get a premium subscription to The Ken

Unrivaled analysis and powerful stories about businesses from award-winning journalists. Read by 5,00,000+ subscribers globally who want to be prepared for what comes next.

Upgrade Now

Trusted by 5,00,000+ executives & leaders from the world's most successful organisations & students at top post-graduate campuses