'Everything Has Changed': How These Founders Bought Out Their Major Investor and Reclaimed Control Investors want fast growth and a speedy exit — but what if a company's founders think differently?

When founders raise money, the goals of their company change. They must now build toward a big exit, so their investors get a return on their investment.

But what if a founder wants to do things differently? Can they ever regain control?

That's what the cofounders of premium wellness brand Rhone recently did, engineering a deal to buy out their largest investor. As word got around in the startup community, many founders reached out to ask how they pulled it off — because those founders, too, would like to regain some control they've lost in the name of growth.