IESE's School of Founders puts the book against the 88% figure — 'Governance rules and term sheets are the point of attack'

Ross co-founded and directs the School of Founders at IESE Business School. He posted a study of almost 250,000 founders from 1987 to 2025 that puts 88% of them at zero exit value, with a 39% chance a founder had already left even when the company exits well, and traced it to liquidation preferences paying investors back first. His school's manifesto commits to fair rewards for creators; he points founders to the book for how to avoid those outcomes, and to bootstrapping as the alternative to the VC route.

“Governance rules and term sheets are the point of attack.” — Sebastian Ross on LinkedIn