Founders – Parity and Beyond
How to identify the extraordinary from the ordinary
We like Founders where they are in situ.
The bones are good. There is much to investigate, to ponder, to decode and recode.
But sometimes the Founder story has become obscured – it sounds a bit glib, only pertinent to that person at that time, Or sadly, it has been eclipsed by newcomers and upstarts.
It has become, by mistake, a Founder Parity story. The rarity of the Founding moment has been obscured or dimmed.
In our experience, the Founder more than anyone does not want this to happen. They want the company to prosper and sparkle. They want everyone to Get It.
Leaders and investors do too – they desire differentiation and value over the longer term.
Helpful therefore to go back to the beginning: to work closely with the Founder and team to identify what is commonplace, and what is distinct; to distinguish between a Founder Parity story and a truly rare one.
Our aim is to reveal and enshrine the extraordinary; the founder epiphany that talks to a universal desire or need. And then to translate what was a very personal belief into a principle for the business: evergreen distinction for a day when the Founder might not be in the room.
Working with a real person through this process is delicate and emotional. Some Founders enjoy the interrogation of the entrepreneurial epiphany, others find it challenging and frustrating. Over the decades, we have created a family of Circus Constructs – easy, not intellectual – typologies, models, debates. Constructs to decode and reimagine values, reason for being, the why for the company – beyond the personal.
A fun one is our Founder Typology Construct. This is based on decades of experience – and is useful to Founders as they think through Parity and Beyond®
Our favourite three typologies are:
The Life Stagers:
“It was Mum’s birthday. I knew what I wanted to buy her… I thought everything I looked at was outdated and impersonal…that’s how the idea was born”
Emma Bridgewater
This is where a very personal experience opens eyes to a potential gap in the market.
I’m pregnant, ill, buying a house, getting married, moving to the country. I need something, I can’t find it; there must be others like me.
Driven by a desire to add something new and exciting to the market – the Life Stager is helpful, pragmatic, creative.
Chrissie Rucker has achieved just this with The White Company, as have Emma Bridgewater, Ella Woodward and many others.
The Rebels:
“The process of buying glasses is not good, it’s slow and expensive and confusing.”
Tom Broughton. Cubitts
This Founder is more of a rule breaker.
The Rebel feels the status quo is outmoded – the product or service might be too slow, unfair, too expensive. There is some sense of outrage.
There must be a better way of servicing this need – energetic, inventive, pacey. Fine exemplars would be Tom Broughton or Richard Branson with their determination to break rules to invent a better future. And from the past, Harry Gordon Selfridge an impresario of the imagination.
The Evangelists:
“The business of business should not just be about money….it should be about public good, not private greed”
Anita Roddick. The Body Shop
This Founder wants to change society – broader than a particular category or product.
The Evangelist wants to illuminate an injustice, or change a set of behaviours. Driven by conviction and a desire to create a movement – Mark Constantine with Lush, or from the past – John Spedan Lewis with his belief in a different ownership model or Anita Roddick with her dedication to a business as unusual.
Founders in the room bring energy and challenge.
Together, we identify the rare – ingredients for Purpose and Proposition: parable and ritual for Participation. What a privilege!
Written by Dilys Maltby
May 2025
