They accept that entrepreneurial founders of companies are often not the best executives to run them as they grow.

That is in part because they are concerned that Charles Dolan, the entrepreneurial founder of Cablevision, will no longer run that company.

Wood has also played a role as investor, board member, and executive in several venture capital-backed startup mobile media companies, lending his experience in building global businesses to their entrepreneurial founders.

And the patent setback seems certain to intensify a battle for control of Gemstar between its entrepreneurial founder, Henry C. Yuen, and Rupert Murdoch, chairman of the News Corporation, Gemstar's biggest shareholder.

"A lot of that had to do with the entrepreneurial founder of the company, Bob Matthews, who built a culture where women were given opportunities."

The entrepreneurial founder, Joseph Winn Fiske (May 22, 1832 - October 20, 1903, out-sourced the iron and zinc-alloy foundry-work itself, and concentrated on the firm's connections with modellers on the one hand and customer relations on the other.

The investment firm purchased People Media from the company's entrepreneurial founders in May 2007.

How does a company that has achieved success through the vision and drive of its entrepreneurial founder achieve further growth?

Even Rocky Aoki, the entrepreneurial founder of the Benihana chain, has seen the sake light.

Experts on family businesses view an inability to step aside, despite advancing age, as the greatest potential pitfall for entrepreneurial founders.