Is there a right way to do this?
Yes.
a. Make it a fully owned subsidiary.
b. Don't fuck with it.
Yes.
a. Make it a fully owned subsidiary.
b. Don't fuck with it.
I am guessing it can work but founders/entrepreneurs aren't necessarily the best managers and are likely to get bored and be looking for their next startup. As a new owner of a company it seems to make sense to transition the senior management to people who are more suited to managing and running a company rather than those who like building a company.
This goes two fold for those companies who have primarily technical founders who are almost always unsuited for the roles in senior management.
Also, the issue isn't that the founders leave; it's that the energy does. Founders are always going to leave.
However, Reddit had some innovative founders, who came up with a new concept, then got acquired and eventually the founders left. However, due to its great team (and passionate community) it has continued to grow and become something amazing.
Therefore neither getting acquired or the founders leaving caused a negative effect.
By this logic, the maximum life of any company is about 40 years.
Walmart and ExxonMobil are two examples of companies that became gargantuan long after their founders had left. In fact, of the Fortune 5000, I would bet the majority no longer employ their founders.
If your team can't fight Romulans when you're down on the planet, you've failed as a manager, was the moral of the story.