Overreliance on a founder for progress often signals a breakdown in the system.

Founders don't slow growth. A lack of systems does.
What often looks like a “founder bottleneck” is usually something else:
- Decisions that only one person can make (level of authority)
- Processes that exist only in someone’s head (lack of documented processes)
- Teams are waiting for approval instead of moving forward

Founders step in, not because they want control, but because the system falls apart without them.

There’s another layer to this, too.
With a lack of transparency, founders must dive into the details just to understand what’s really happening.

They review deals.
They double-check numbers.
They join calls.
They ask for updates.

It's not micromanaging; it's compensating for missing visibility.
At the early stages, this feels necessary. At scale, however, it becomes exhausting. For Everyone.

Well-designed systems don't eliminate the need for leadership. They create clarity. They provide founders with the transparency needed to make decisions without being involved in every process, which usually makes growth more predictable.

If progress depends too heavily on your personal involvement, it's often a sign of an issue with the system, not a leadership flaw.