Shaadi.com founder and Shark Tank India judge Anupam Mittal has now shared his thoughts on the growing trend of startup founders stepping aside from the CEO role. Mittal argues that such moves should be seen as maturity rather than failure. In a post shared on professional networking platform LinkedIn, Mittal challenged the long-held belief in India that ‘CEO = Founder = CEO’. He called the idea outed in today’s fast-scaling startup ecosystem. Mittal further examined that the startups often grow faster than their founders can evolve as managers. “What works at 10 people breaks at 100, and what works at 100 breaks at 1000,” he wrote. Founders, he noted, are typically strong at taking companies from “0 to 1” or “1 to 10,” but beyond a certain growth curve, businesses require a different skill set that professional CEOs are better equipped to provide.Mittal also emphasised that in global markets it is common for the founders to set aside and let professional managers lead with companies, shareholders, and even founders themselves benefiting from the transition. In India, however, such moves are often dramatized as signs of being “fired,” “failure,” or even “fraud.”

Read Anupam Mittal’s complete LinkedIn post here

CEOs & Founders resigning from their own startups? This is not failure, this is maturityFor years Indian founders believed CEO = Founder = CEOThat idea is outdated 🕰️Startups today are growing faster than founders can grow as managers, what works at 10 people breaks at 100 & what works at 100 breaks at 1000Most founders are great at 0 to 1 and 1 to 10But beyond a certain growth curve, companies need a different skill setIn global markets this is encouraged, founders step aside and professional CEOs step inThe company wins, the founder still owns the upside & most times, shareholders are better off.In India we dramatize this as ‘fired’, ‘failure’ & even ‘fraud’Most of the time it is none of that ❌I think making oneself replaceable should be one of the key goals of every founder.That is how companies like Google, Apple and Microsoft became enduring giants.Often, it is simply the founder choosing what is best for the company 💪🏼Mittal’s comments come shortly after Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal announced his decision to step down from the top role, a move that sparked debate in India’s startup community. Goyal, who co-founded Zomato in 2008, said the transition was aimed at strengthening the company’s long-term leadership structure.