Professional management is often necessary, and I think most founders recognize this.  However, bringing on a CEO is an enormously risky proposition for founders.  No matter how thoroughly you vet him, this guy's going to be your boss and he could potentially run your just-starting-to-pop startup into the ground, leaving you with nothing for your efforts.<p>There would be a lot less anxiety and acrimony over this critical transition time if investors recognized the risks involved for the startup founders and offered them the opportunity to limit their downside by taking a modest amount of cash out.  After all, getting to the point where the startup is starting to scale nicely is still a relatively rare achievement.