The Challenge

As companies scale, founders naturally focus on product and capital, often ignoring the human dynamics of leadership—creating a silent operational bottleneck. Research from Pavese Insights Lab shows 83% of entrepreneurs struggle with "tactical over-functioning" while 67% find it difficult to delegate. The SeaTechHealth founder community needed a safe, intentional space to break this silence and navigate the high-stakes relationship shifts that come with growth.

The Approach

In collaboration with SeaTechHealth, Pavese Insights Lab designed and led an interactive session titled “You’re Not Co-founders Anymore: Navigating Leadership Relationships as Your Company Scales”. Grounded in lab research, the sprint tackled unvoiced interpersonal friction by guiding leaders through the 5 Leadership Identity Shifts (moving from "Doer" to "Designer"), strategies for confronting taboo conflict, and the 4 Dimensions of Team Compatibility.

The Impact

The session broke open taboos around founder tension, replacing surface-level advice with deep, constructive dialogue. In just 50 minutes, founders actively engaged in the "inner work" of scaling and walked away with an actionable Leadership Alignment Toolkit—including The Decision Map—equipping them to immediately restructure boundaries, build trust, and strengthen co-founder partnerships.