founder + future launches to help challenger brands scale without losing their magic

Founder-led brands are rewriting the rules of the FMCG, food & beverage, lifestyle and retail sectors. They spark whole new categories, capture outsized market share and drive disproportionate growth. Yet research shows that while founder-led brands can fuel extraordinary success, 85 per cent* lose momentum post-acquisition.

Founder brands are having their moment. They are reshaping industries with bold vision and a restless drive to challenge the status quo. These challenger brands are driving category growth despite modest initial market share, capturing investor attention with their disruptive potential. The numbers don’t lie; research consistently shows founder-led businesses outperforming their counterparts, leading to dedicated “founder-led” investment funds and a growing fascination with the “founder mindset” as a critical competitive advantage. From Silicon Valley to Wall Street, and across thriving start-up hubs like Shoreditch in London, Surry Hills in Sydney, and Richmond in Melbourne, the buzz around founder-led companies is palpable.

Yet as capital flows and interest surge, a critical aspect remains under-explored: who is taking a truly holistic look at the brand component behind these founder-led successes? What happens to the brand as founders step away and how do founder brands keep their elusive magic alive as they grow?

That’s the questions founder + future was created to answer. The new brand-growth advisory, with offices in Sydney, Melbourne and London, helps founders, investors and leadership teams protect and scale the “founder magic”: the mix of vision, culture and instinct that drives authentic customer connection but is notoriously difficult to preserve during growth.

Founded by Mark Palmer and Georgie Scott, who have guided some of the world’s most recognisable challenger brands including Oatly, Fever-Tree, Pret A Manger and Green & Black’s, founder + future embeds brand deeply into business strategy to ensure growth strengthens, rather than dilutes, what makes a brand distinctive.

Mark Palmer, Co-Founder of founder + future, said: “We’ve seen it too often. Businesses ignite with energy and momentum, then lose their edge as they expand. Our role is to codify and protect that fire, so it powers long-term success.”

Georgie Scott, Partner at founder + future, added: “Preserving brand soul is not just sentimental, it’s commercial. We’ve seen investors bring founders back post-acquisition to recapture what was lost. Our mission is to make sure that magic never fades in the first place.”

At the core of founder + future’s offer is founderproof, a proprietary methodology that helps brands preserve their magic through leadership transitions and beyond, codifying founder spirit so it can be carried forward with clarity and intent. It ensures brands at key inflection points maintain momentum and market distinctiveness while building the organisational systems needed for sustained growth.

founder + future works with founders preparing to scale, boards and management teams guiding through transition, investors and private equity safeguarding brand value post-acquisition, and established brands looking to reignite challenger spirit.