I had a baby last week. My new little one — Travis — arrived about 10 weeks ahead of schedule.

While I’m in my office, writing this, Travis is chilling in the NICU about 10 minutes from home.

I visit him every day, but I’m not camped out in the hospital with him 24/7. This has sparked some well-meaning questions: Don’t I want to be with Travis all the time? Shouldn’t I be parked in the NICU bonding with him?

But the way I see it, we’re already very much bonded for life. He’s stuck with me.

Also, and crucially, I’m simply not capable of giving Travis the care he needs right now. He may literally be part of me, but I know absolutely nothing about feeding or caring for a very premature baby. In that way, it only makes sense for me to let the doctors and nurses who do know how to care for him do so.

Here's the alt-protein part: I’ve noticed lately that I’m not alone in taking a good, hard look in the mirror and admitting that I don’t know everything. There have been a raft of alt-meat founders and CEOs stepping down or stepping back, admitting that — though their company is their baby — they are ill-equipped to support and care for it through its current stage of growth.

“They had to take a self-awareness pill and realize they’re not the people to take the company on its next journey,” THIS CEO Mark Cuddigan recently said in an interview with Sifted, speaking about co-founders and former THIS co-CEOs Andy Shovel and Pete Sharman.

“As you grow, you need different things,” the CEO, who took on the role in February, continued. “They’ve been very open about the fact that they feel the time was right to bring someone in to deliver on the company's vision and mission.”

Shovel and Sharman, for what it’s worth, said much the same in a separate interview earlier this year: They love their company, and they love it enough to admit they’re not the best option to lead it forward.

In early May, we saw a similar changeover at Meati Foods, where Phil Graves took over as CEO. Founding CEO Tyler Huggins ultimately transitioned into an advisory role, saying, “I am confident that in Phil we have found the right individual to lead the company to our next exciting chapter.”

A litany of others: In June 2023, mycelium bacon maker MyForest brought on Greg Shewchuk as CEO, replacing co-founder Eben Bayer, who remains chairman of the board.

In April 2024, Ross Mackay, founder of Daring Foods, transitioned into a chairman emeritus role, welcoming former Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Gendelman as CEO.

Just last week, Meatable brought in a meat industry ringer, Jeff "Trip" Tripician, to replace co-founding CEO Krijn de Nood.

Do I know for sure all of these executive changes are the result of honest soul-searching and doing what’s best for the thing you love? No. There’s a decent chance that at least half of these instances are examples of investors pushing out a CEO who simply isn’t up to the job.

But, sitting where I’m sitting, I appreciate how hard it is to admit when your best simply isn’t going to cut it and humbly hand over the reins to someone who’ll do a better job. And whether you’re the founding CEO of a successful (or failing!) company or a working parent trying to keep it all together, there’s something to be said for being honest with yourself.

We're having a baby (really!)

Join for free* to continue reading.