Onboarding: shadow phase to chairman transition

Tighe Burke is the founder of SRCH Partners, a boutique executive search firm that helps SaaS founders replace themselves as CEO without selling their companies. After years in large executive recruiting firms, Tighe built a practice focused on founders who want their business to keep growing while they step back from day-to-day leadership.

Tighe works with profitable software companies typically in the $5M–$50M revenue range, helping founders hire experienced and scrappy operators who have already scaled businesses through the next phase. His team has completed more than 75 executive searches, often placing CEOs who take full P&L ownership while founders move into chairman, product, or portfolio roles.

In this episode, we dig into when hiring a CEO makes sense, how compensation and incentives really work, and what founders must let go of for this transition to succeed. Tighe shares practical warning signs, real compensation structures, and why this "third door" can create more value and freedom than selling too early.

Key Takeaways

• Founder Readiness Matters — This only works when founders clearly know what they want their life and role to become next.
• $5M+ Reality Check — Most companies need real profitability to afford a strong CEO with authority and incentives.
• Operators Are Different — The best CEOs have already scaled similar businesses and don't need to learn on your dime.
• Let Go Or Don't Hire — Founders who keep control undermine the hire and drive away the right operators.
• Comp Isn't Just Equity — Profit sharing, bonuses, and transaction payouts often work better than stock alone.
• Shadow Period Is Normal — The first few months require intentional transition, not instant disappearance by founders.
• Value Can Multiply — Hiring the right CEO can grow valuation faster than selling too early ever would.

Quote from Tighe Burke, Founder of SRCH Partners

"There are three doors as a founder entrepreneur. Door #1is keep running your business. Maybe you love your business. Door #2 is to exit the business and sell your company whenever you either get a good multiple, or the time is right, or a good buyer. "

"Door #3 is where we come in. Hopefully, your business cash generating asset for you. There are a lot of founders who think of their business that way. Some particularly people who like start their own company, it's their baby, it defines who they are. That's great. But if for any reason you're feeling angst or like you think someone can get past 10 million when you've really struggled there, that's probably true.

"Let's bring in somebody else, an operator, a big O operator to run the business, to own the P &L, to make strategic decisions, to hire, to fire, to do all the things that you probably don't really like anymore.

"You don't have to sell the business. You can actually get a bigger multiple later on by having a strong management team in place if that is something you choose. And you get your life back. can be with your family. You can start another business. You can advise, invest, kind of do whatever you want."

Links

• Tighe Burke on LinkedIn
• SRCH on LinkedIn
• SRCH website

This podcast is sponsored by Designli, a digital product studio that helps entrepreneurs and startups turn their software ideas into reality. From strategy and design to full-scale development, Designli guides you through every step of building custom web and mobile apps. Learn more at designli.co/practical.

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