Leaving as billionaires, they exuded Silicon Valley’s relentless positivity. Pinterest is “just getting started,” Airbnb is “best ever,” and Instacart “has a huge opportunity,” the founders wrote. Mehta and Gebbia said they have plans for new projects.
Investors say they expect more of these resignations from founders who (relatively speaking) find themselves having to work harder for less. “Now they can give some executives various incentives to take over and grow the business,” Cohen said.
Brad Hargreaves, founder of co-living space startup Common, announced last week that he is stepping down as CEO to become chief creative officer. Karlene Holloman, the company’s asset manager and hotel industry veteran, will take over as chief executive officer.
Hargreaves’ decision factored in the downturn in the market. He said it’s good to have a founder at the top of the company who can pitch a grand vision to investors, employees and customers in a time of flash. “Operations are not so important,” he said. “Nobody sees the final result.”
Today’s environment requires someone with Holloman’s extensive experience and operational skills, he said. “In tough times when operations are so important and no one buys into the grand vision, we need an operator in that seat,” he said.
“Many founders and CEOs have been with us for a long time,” he added.
There are many founders who have survived the recession so far, including Stripe, Coinbase, and Discord, but expect greater demands and pressure. Stock trading app Robinhood has laid off more than 1,000 employees this year after losing active customers. Mizuho Securities analyst Dan Dreb said investors have privately suggested hiring more experienced executives to help Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev. . Teneff, along with his co-founder Baiju Bhatt, is in control of the company, so he can’t be kicked out.
