To spend enough time working on a business, you can’t devote yourself to working in it.

A key issue for founders is letting go — not taking on everything themselves and giving away the minutiae to others.  “The whole transition from working in the business to working on the business means letting go of what you’re comfortable doing. You always need to be thinking big and challenging yourself.” A key point in this article.  

In the earliest stages of a company, the founder or founders are the company and pretty much have to rely on themselves for everything.  Even as they begin to grow and hire a few additional employees control is easily theirs –problems arise when they don’t see when it is time to focus on a few core thigs and allow others to step in to handle the rest.  If the new hires aren’t capable of stepping in, they weren’t the right hires.

The first employees hired should be top talent with excellent skills and the ability to operate independently (including a spectacular executive assistant).  They need the freedom to do what they’ve been hired to do.  It not, they won’t be around long.  

See on blogs.hbr.org