From stuck to thriving: the December19 journey, with Dave Barnett, co-founder

"We had to make some really tough decisions... I no longer felt I was the right person to lead the business."

Managing a founder-led business is not without its challenges, as December19 co-founder Dave Barnett knows only too well.

With a thriving culture and many years' commercial success achieved, media agency december19 was on a fantastic trajectory, built on the ethos of putting its people first. But over time, Dave began to realise that perhaps someone else might be better positioned to lead the business.

This is a decision that all founders of successful businesses will eventually face, and it's not a simple one. So how do you go about managing the process? How do you go from day-to-day operational management to light touch support? And how do you ensure that it continues to grow within the same ethical, values-led framework that you founded it on?

In the People Puzzle’s podcast, Dave chats with host Ally Maughan about the challenges of running a founder-led business, maintaining a flourishing culture, and how having the right people in the right seats is such a fundamental process in protecting the future vision of a business. From facing up to mistakes and knowing when it's time to put your ego aside and do what's right for the business, this is a candid look at what it means to run a business - and why sometimes it is so important to call on external expertise to get you to where you need to go.