What Survives When the Founder Walks Out

Can you tell when a brand stopped being run by the people who built it?In this episode, we open by reading a real brand statement out loud. Nobody believed it. Turns out, both founders had stepped down within a year of each other — and within two years, the mission was sold, the name was gone, and the company had pivoted to GPU cloud computing. We dig into what founders actually carry that can't be transferred — conviction, judgment, risk tolerance — and what happens to a brand when those things leave the room. We look at brands that got it right (Trader Joe's, Spanx, Ben & Jerry's) and brands that didn't. We also debut our new segment, Rebrand This: we take Allbirds apart and show exactly what we'd have asked before the founders walked out.Hosted by the founders of Groundfire Agency — a women-owned, minority-led brand strategy and creative agency. Visit groundfireagency.com to learn more.