When Founders Hire a Boss and Give Up Control

In 2008, Lynda Weinman and her husband, Bruce Heavin, were feeling overwhelmed by the fast-growing online education business they had launched 13 years earlier. Initially intended as a way to teach Weinman’s design students to post their portfolios on the Web, the duo had transformed lynda.com into a “$24 million-a-year” venture attracting “a lot of investor inquiries,” she says. They hired management consultant Eric Robison to help them sort through their challenges. After a month, Robison came to them with a proposal—he would quit his consulting practice and become lynda.com’s president and CEO.

Rather than being threatened, the founders were grateful. “We’re teachers. Our goal is to share and help people,” Weinman says. “We wanted to focus on culture, mission, passion, and keeping morale high.” The Ojai (Calif.) company, still headed by Robison, has more than 300 employees. Revenue in 2011 reached $70 million. Weinman, now executive chair, and Heavin, chief creative officer, work as a team with Robison but focus on what they love: expanding curriculum, coaching new teachers, and creating value for students.