Start a business is a big deal, and taking on the role of CEO to move this company forward is an important choice. Some founders are able to lead their startups through the company formation process. If you look the list of the most valuable companies in the worldhowever, you notice that the leaders of technology companies are not always the original founders.
If you’ve spent any time working on the board – or if you talk to experienced VCs – you realize that it’s not uncommon for startups to change CEOs, although this is rarely discussed openly. Private companies generally have no obligation to announce management changes beyond the closed doors of the boardroom.
Still, choosing to hand over the reins to a startup you’ve bled, sweated and torn for is one hell of a decision. I spoke with a CEO who went through this transition a few months ago to see how he made the decision.
“I’ve been in the healthcare field most of my adult life,” said Troy Bannister, founder of Particle Health. “I was EMT when I was 18.” While in college, he changed majors from business to pre-medical, then worked at a venture capital accelerator called StartUp Health. “I’ve met hundreds, if not thousands, of entrepreneurs, all building healthcare startups. there no API model for clinical data?And so I started Particle.
Troy Bannister, who is no longer CEO of Particle Health, the company he founded. Picture credits: Particle Health
The venture was either prescient or had a bit of luck; THE information blocking rule it was part of the 21st Century Cures Act meant that patients had access to their information. It also meant that startups working in this space needed a way to request and securely store information. This is where Particle has found its niche: making links to the health records of 320 million people available to anyone who needs it.
Five years later, however, Bannister discovered something was wrong. He had built from the ground up, having elevated a Series B and grown the business to 65 people, with around 50 clients on the books, and a clear path to a Series C within the next two years. But now a tough choice loomed: would he be the right person to fill the CEO chair for the company’s next stage?
