Protect thyself! How venture CEOs fight off dismissal by their boards

We examine how venture CEOs might protect themselves from dismissal by their boards. Using a qualitative single-case study approach and rare longitudinal data capturing a CEO’s perspectives and behaviors, we track how the founder and CEO of a renowned craft distillery insulated himself from dismissal by his distillery’s board throughout their relationship. Our primary theoretical contributions are to the resource dependence perspective on venture governance, placing another stone on the path of emergent conversations about the behavior and influence of power-disadvantaged CEOs relative to their boards. First, we enrich understanding of the implications of power-resource exchanges between venture CEOs and boards after these exchanges have occurred. Second, we enrich understanding of the balance of power between venture CEOs and boards in their post-exchange relationships. Third, we extend understanding of the behaviors available to venture CEOs as they navigate power disadvantages relative to boards to stave off dismissal. Implications for other key corporate governance perspectives (agency theory), along with the boundaries of our findings, also receive attention.