The founder got a marketing job, and was good enough at it that when he decided to move cities the company wanted to keep him on as a remote consultant.  From there he added a couple more clients, and as the work increased and diversified he started to subcontract (including to me, for IT work).  That kept going until it became clear (legally and otherwise) that all the consultants were in fact employees.  So the transition for everyone from a group of consultants (who, as a perk of that role, can set their own hours) to a proper organization was seamless, and we were all able to solidify the hours that we wanted as it occurred.