Too many founders stay in the CEO seat for too long. Often to the detriment of their company, their teams and themselves.

It’s not about giving up. It’s about knowing when you are no longer the best person to lead the business into its next chapter.

One example of a founder who knew the time was right and made that leap with clarity and intention is today’s Making The Grade guest, Robert Newry.

After 11 years as CEO of Arctic Shores, Robert chose to step aside and take on a brand new role as Chief Explorer, allowing him to focus on the things that energise him most: thought leadership, customer evangelism and rethinking how we assess human potential.

In this conversation, we explore what it really takes to scale a venture-backed company sustainably, and why sometimes the boldest thing a Founder can do is to let go.

Whether you’re a founder thinking about what’s next for you, or you’re currently going through the trenches, fundraising, this episode is packed with lessons on resilience, reinvention and scaling wisely.

Episode Chapters:

01:30 - Robert’s early failures and family roots in entrepreneurship

03:50 - Learning from failure: Hong Kong’s startup mindset

05:30 - The origin story behind Arctic Shores

08:10 - Rethinking psychometrics: uncovering potential beyond the CV

13:00 - Designing AI-resilient hiring tools in the age of ChatGPT

18:00 - Why stepping down as CEO wasn’t a failure — but a growth move

21:00 - Creating the role of Chief Explorer & transitioning out of CEO

36:00 - What founders need to stop doing when they raise capital

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