After a founder is replaced as CEO, should s/he stay as a lower-level executive, or would thatbe the worst scenario? Charlie Harary and Dean Noam Wasserman delve into “The Day Afterthe Firing” and how that critical transition can be make-or-break for the startup & the founder.

Why do successful founders get fired? What are the early signs that it might happen to you?The paradox of entrepreneurial success is that your success might result in losing control andbeing replaced. Charlie Harary and Dean Noam Wasserman delve into this difficult reality.

A listener asks if it is worthwhile to read books about or by successful founders. Charlie Harary and Dean Noam Wasserman discuss the importance of reading with a critical eye, extracting parts we can emulate while avoiding implicit pitfalls & unrealistic aspects of the success.

Diving deeper into Rewards and founders’ equity splits, Charlie Harary and Dean Noam Wasserman tackle listener questions: Is the startup’s idea valuable, or is the value really “99% perspiration”? Should all 50/50 equity splits be avoided? 

One of the most important decisions is how to finance the startup.  For instance, self-fund or raise outside money?  Dean Wasserman introduces a structured way to think about this and other “Rich vs. King” tradeoffs you will face, and delves into it with Charlie Harary.

Does entrepreneurial persistence separate success from failure, or is it actually doubling down and digging yourself a deeper hole? Charlie Harary and Dean Noam Wasserman tackle the truth about persistence – virtue or vice? – in startups and in life.

Charlie Harary and Dean Noam Wasserman tackle listeners’ burning questions about pre-founding and building the founding team. For instance, should you wait for the perfect time to found? Solo found or have three cofounders? Give equity to employees?

Along with allocating Roles, you have to allocate Rewards – most notably, ownership stakes. What are the pitfalls and best practices for doing so? A 50-50 split seems fair and simple, but does it breed success? Charlie Harary and Dean Wasserman tackle this contentious topic.

How should you allocate titles and how should you make decisions as a team? Your early decisions could result in gridlock, heightened tensions, inefficiency, and fighting. Dean Noam Wasserman and Charlie Harary dive into Roles and Decision Making dilemmas.

The relationships you tap in forming your founding team can introduce significant Playing With Fire risks for the team. Having covered the most notable of those risks in our previous episode, Charlie Harary and Dean Noam Wasserman delve into the best ways to reduce those risks.  What Firewalls can you build to protect your most cherished relationships from the damage caused by Playing With Fire? What are the best ways to proactively tackle the elephants in the room that you loathe to discuss?