Your lead investor seems to have lost interest in you – what should you do?

In this episode of the Founder to Leader Podcast, we discuss a dilemma from a VC-backed founder whose seed round closed a year ago.

Lately, his lead investor has been slower to respond and even sent an associate to the last board meeting instead of the partner.

He keeps making up stories about what his investor is really thinking: one day he's convinced they've given up, the next he tells himself they're just busy with the rest of the portfolio.

He owes them an update soon. His company is growing, but at roughly half the pace they'd promised, and he can’t decide what to do.

Is it worth acknowledging the disengagement directly or just keep pretending he hasn’t noticed?

Joining the conversation:
- Michael Karlsen (Founder, Onomondo)
- Sara Rywe (Investor, byFounders)
- Mia Jung (Leadership Coach, Founder to Leader)
- Yohanna Gustafsson (Podcast Host & Program Manager, Founder to Leader)

🔍 Want an outside perspective on your own dilemma? Submit it anonymously here: https://forms.office.com/e/RSxf5BrxvN

The Founder to Leader Podcast is supported by Copenhagen Business School and the Danish Industry Foundation.

Should employees be expected to hustle like founders?

In this episode of the Founder to Leader Podcast, we discuss a dilemma from a startup employee (!) whose founders expect the same level of hustle from her that they put in themselves with the argument "we're all in this together."

But the shares she was promised when hired never seem to materialize and she has recently been called out for not putting in the same hours as the team, even though the quality of her work has never been questioned.

Is she right to be irritated or should she accept that this is startup life?

Joining the conversation: 

• Nicolai Arnholm-Nyström (Co-founder & COO, Frankly Insure) 

• Moritz Hartmann (Chief of Staff, Ento) 

• Nina Uller (Leadership Coach, Founder to Leader) 

• Yohanna Gustafsson (Podcast Host & Programme Manager, Founder to Leader) 

🔍 Want an outside perspective on your own dilemma? Submit it anonymously here: https://forms.office.com/e/RSxf5BrxvN 

Is overpromising just what scaling looks like?

In this episode of the Founder to Leader Podcast, we discuss a dilemma from a first-time scientific founder whose startup is racing against well-funded competitors on the same kind of tech. He leads research; his co-founder leads commercials. They're running out of cash and his co-founder says they have to promise more than they can currently deliver to investors and customers.

He gets the logic, but panics every time he hears what they're saying externally because he doesn't know if they can actually deliver what they're selling on time.

Is he right to push back so they move slower but get it right?

Joining the conversation: 

• Marvin Holten (Co-founder & CTO, DIASENSE) 
• Signe Vikkelsø (Professor, Copenhagen Business School) 
• Mia Jung (Head of Leadership Development & Leadership Coach for Founder to Leader, Copenhagen Business School) 
• Yohanna Gustafsson (Podcast Host & Programme Manager, Founder to Leader) 

🔍 Want an outside perspective on your own dilemma? Submit it anonymously here: https://forms.office.com/e/RSxf5BrxvN

Is dreading your founder's mood just part of startup life?

In this episode of the Founder to Leader Podcast, we discuss a dilemma from a startup employee working for a passionate, temperamental founder whose emotional state shapes the entire company's culture. The founder's fundraising pressure has turned into outbursts that affect everyone around him and the employee has even had to mediate some of them.

He sees so many inspiring things in his founder as a leader, so is this just the reality of a startup with big ambitions, and if it isn't; what can he actually do?

Joining the conversation: 

• Moritz Hartmann (Chief of Staff, Ento) 
• Nicolai Arnholm-Nyström (Co-founder & COO, Frankly Insure) 
• Nina Uller (Leadership Coach, Founder to Leader) 
• Yohanna Gustafsson (Podcast Host & Programme Manager, Founder to Leader) 

🔍 Want an outside perspective on your own dilemma? Submit it anonymously here: https://forms.office.com/e/RSxf5BrxvN 

Is it really faster to do everything yourself rather than delegate? 

In this episode of the Founder to Leader Podcast, we discuss a dilemma from a deep-tech founder with 15 employees who struggles to protect his own time. His investors, board, team and customers all want his input.

He keeps telling himself it's faster if he just does it himself - but he's exhausted, working till 2am most nights as the admin piles up and leaves no time for the strategic work he's actually good at (and enjoys). 

He realizes this isn’t sustainable long-term, so what's the first thing he should change?  

Joining the conversation: 

• Marvin Holten (Co-founder & CTO, DiaSense) 

• Signe Vikkelsø (Professor, Copenhagen Business School) 

• Mia Jung (Head of Leadership Development & Leadership Coach for Founder to Leader, Copenhagen Business School) 

• Yohanna Gustafsson (Podcast Host & Programme Manager, Founder to Leader) 

🔍 Want an outside perspective on your own dilemma? Submit it anonymously here: https://forms.office.com/e/RSxf5BrxvN 

For the first time ever, our dilemma comes from a startup employee!

A senior hire with a management consulting background is being pushed by her founder to reinvent the company's product roadmap into "something impressive". When she pushes back, her founder tells her everyone should "step up beyond their role". Problem is, she doesn't know the vision and she's starting to suspect her founders don't either.

Is she being asked to do her founder's job?

Joining the conversation: 

• Moritz Hartmann (Chief of Staff, Ento) 
• Nicolai Arnholm-Nyström (Co-founder & COO, Frankly Insure) 
• Nina Uller (Leadership Coach, Founder to Leader) 
• Yohanna Gustafsson (Podcast Host & Programme Manager, Founder to Leader) 

🔍 Want an outside perspective on your own dilemma? Submit it anonymously here: https://forms.office.com/e/RSxf5BrxvN 

What happens when you go from running the lab to running a company? 

In this episode of the Founder to Leader Podcast, we unpack a dilemma from a research-founder who built her company on a decade of research. Since closing her first round, she spends her weeks in investor meetings, board prep and hiring loops - and barely sets foot in the lab. Her CSO's updates look reasonable, but she feels out of control! Should she start showing up at the lab again, or is this just how it's supposed to be?

Joining the conversation: 

• Marvin Holten (Co-founder & CTO, DIASENSE) 

• Signe Vikkelsø (Professor, Copenhagen Business School) 

• Mia Jung (Head of Leadership Development & Leadership Coach for Founder to Leader, Copenhagen Business School) 

• Yohanna Gustafsson (Podcast Host & Programme Manager, Founder to Leader) 

🔍 Want an outside perspective on your own dilemma? Submit it anonymously here: https://forms.office.com/e/RSxf5BrxvN 

What changes between you and your team when your company starts scaling? 

In the eight episode of the Founder to Leader Podcast, we zoom in on the roles and culture dilemmas that arise when a scaling company outgrows its early setup. 

We unpack three real founder dilemmas: 

• What happens when my early hire resists a new reporting structure? 
• Why do my top performers struggle when promoted into leadership? 
• How do I transition from a "family culture" to a performance-driven organization? 

Joining the conversation: 

• Christian Cordius (Founder, Banana Cph) 
• Signe Bruskin (PhD, Copenhagen Business School)  
• Nina Uller (Leadership Coach, Founder to Leader) 
• Yohanna Gustafsson (Podcast Host & Program Manager, Founder to Leader) 

🔍 Want an outside perspective on your own dilemma? Submit it anonymously here: https://forms.office.com/e/RSxf5BrxvN 

What happens internally when guilt, blame and responsibility land on you as the leader?

In the seventh episode of the Founder to Leader Podcast, we zoom in on leadership communication in moments of crisis.

We unpack three real founder dilemmas:

• How should I respond when journalists start digging into my company?
• Should I take full responsibility for my senior leader's costly mistake in front of my board?
• I fired my team's favorite colleague and can't say why. Now what?

Joining the conversation:

• Ulv Ankerstjerne (Co-founder & CEO, Killer Kebab)
• Camilla Sløk (Associate Professor, Copenhagen Business School)
• Magnus Stawicki Blak (Leadership Coach, Founder to Leader)
• Yohanna Gustafsson (Podcast Host & Programme Manager, Founder to Leader)

🔍 Want an outside perspective on your own dilemma? Submit it anonymously here: https://forms.office.com/e/RSxf5BrxvN!

In the sixth episode, we explore what happens when boundaries between founders and their teams aren't set or clearly communicated.

We unpack three real founder dilemmas:

• Whether your expectations around urgency and your team's availability are too high
• Not knowing if or how to socialize with the people you manage
• Feeling like the parent of your team and not knowing how to stop

Joining the conversation:

• Lasse Finderup (Co-founder & CEO, Good Tape)
• Christian Garmann Johnsen (Associate Professor, Copenhagen Business School)
• Nina Uller (Leadership Coach, Founder to Leader)
• Yohanna Gustafsson (Podcast Host & Program Manager, Founder to Leader)

🔍 Want an outside perspective on your own dilemma? Submit it anonymously here: https://forms.office.com/e/RSxf5BrxvN!

📖 The book Nina is referring to: "The Delegation Trap: It's Not Them, Its You" by Atiba de Souza