A 12-dimension diagnostic scoring how dependent a tech middle-market firm is on its founder-CEO.
Request a Turnaround AssessmentThe Founder Extraction Index measures the depth of founder-dependency in a tech middle-market firm and routes the result into a sequenced extraction plan. It is calibrated against Human Renaissance engagements where founder-extraction work delivered measurable multiple expansion at exit.
Decision-velocity load (1.0×), founder-led revenue (1.2×), unreachable-week recency (1.0×), 30-day-without-founder leadership-bench depth (1.5×), onboarding system maturity (0.8×), CFO independence on close (1.0×), customer-success policy authority (0.8×), production-incident escalation (1.2×), succession-plan currency (1.0×), founder vacation pattern (0.8×), management-equity vesting horizon (0.8×), diligence-interviewability without founder (1.5×).
Each dimension scores 0 (founder-independent), 2 (partially distributed), or 4 (founder-dependent). Multiply by the weight, then sum. Maximum score is 51.6.
≥ 35: Critical bottleneck. ≥ 22: High dependency. ≥ 12: Manageable. < 12: Exit-ready.
Critical and High bands route to Operational Excellence (founder extraction, leadership-bench depth, process documentation). Moderate routes to Commercial Performance (sales-without-founder motion). Exit-ready routes to pre-LOI cleanup.
The Index is a moving target. Quarterly re-scoring with the leadership team surfaces regression and validates progress. Buyers will eventually run their own version; better to have your own number on file.
The Founder Extraction Index is the named version of a problem every tech middle-market founder-CEO eventually has to answer for. It exists because the multiple haircut at exit on operator-dependency risk is consistent — typically 1–3 turns of EBITDA depending on depth — and the only way to argue against the haircut is with a measurable extraction plan that started long before LOI.
When a PE buyer’s diligence team enters a founder-led firm, they’re running a version of this Index whether the seller knows it or not. They interview the leadership team without the founder in the room and observe whether the answers diverge. They check whether the founder’s calendar is on the critical path of customer escalations, hiring decisions, and roadmap calls. They check whether closed-won pipeline tracks the founder’s travel schedule. By the time the LOI haircut shows up, they’ve already scored the firm.
The 12-question diagnostic is live at /tools/founder-bottleneck. It’s the same scoring rubric we walk founder-CEOs through in week one of an Operational Excellence engagement, condensed into a 3-minute self-assessment. Your answers stay on your device — we don’t capture them.
The Index doesn’t just produce a score; it routes to the work that closes the gap. A Critical-band firm starts with decision-mapping (every decision the founder still owns gets named) and leadership-bench audit (which direct reports could run the firm for 30 days). A Moderate-band firm starts with sales-without-founder discipline. An Exit-ready firm starts pre-LOI cleanup.
For deeper context, the Founder Extraction topic hub collects the operator-grade analysis behind each step.
A 14-day operator-led diagnostic includes the full multi-respondent version of every Human Renaissance framework.
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