Founders Keepers

For a founder of a company, the company is usually his/her life’s work. A legacy to leave behind. Its his baby. He/she remembers starting it with a small amount of money, remembers the difficult times, the growing pains. Founders are emotionally attached to their company and it would devastate them if the company ever failed. They will always make decisions that are in the best long term interests of the company. Unlike most managerial morons who are clueless about the company/industry, the founders are usually people that understand the company and the industry inside out. Founders are usually frugal and avoid unnecessary expenses or expensive stock options. They focus on keeping the company profitable, the customers satisfied and the employees happy. They generally stick to what they understand and avoid the dumb mergers and acquisitions that the managerial mercinaries from business schools seem to be so fond of. They take care of the company and the stock follows the growth in the business. Usually companies will significantly outperform the market when they still have their founders as the CEOs.

Here is a list of great companies run by founders.
Apple, Steve Jobs
Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett
Capital One Financial, Richard Fairbanks
Carmax, Austin Ligon
Chesapeake Energy, Aubrey Mcledon
CostCo, James Sinegal
Echostar, Charles Ergen
FedEx, Fredrick Smith
Kinder Morgan, Richard Kinder
News Corp, Rupert Murdoch
Toll Brothers, Robert Toll
Whole Foods, John Mackey

Also watch Dell whose founder Michael Dell is back as CEO.