Strategies for overcoming founder’s trap in growing entrepreneurial firms

Mirvahedi, Saeed; Motiei, Mohsen; Salmani, Zahra

doi:10.22054/jmsd.2025.85656.4630

Strategies for overcoming founder’s trap in growing entrepreneurial firms

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Saeed Mirvahedi ¹

Mohsen Motiei ²

Zahra Salmani ³

¹ Associate Professor, Department of Technology Management and Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabataba&amp;#039;i University, Tehran, Iran

² Associate Professor, Department of Technology Management and Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

³ Master of Entrepreneurship, Department of Technology Management and Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Management and Accounting, Allameh Tabataba'i University, Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22054/jmsd.2025.85656.4630

Abstract

As an organization grows, maintaining the path to success becomes increasingly difficult. One of the most significant threats faced by growing companies is a phenomenon known as the Founder’s Trap. This phenomenon refers to a situation in which egocentrism, excessive control, and a lack of delegation by the founder create a serious obstacle to the organization's growth and sustainability. Under such circumstances, the organization cannot effectively continue its development and performance. Given the importance of this issue, the aim of this research is to identify and explain effective strategies for overcoming the Founder’s Trap in Iranian entrepreneurial firms. This is a qualitative study and is considered applied research in terms of its purpose. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 10 founders of entrepreneurial firms in the provinces of Isfahan and Tehran, and were analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings indicate that some founders of the studied companies have been able to overcome the challenges of the founder's trap by leveraging personal and mental development of the founder, succession planning, a dynamic organizational culture, the design of a modern organizational structure and human resource development.

Keywords

Founder's trap

Entrepreneurial firms

Organization life cycle

Growing organizations

Subjects

Management of Organizational Development

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