18/06/2026
When Robin van Persie signed for Manchester United in 2012, he didn’t sign for the shirt. He signed for Sir Alex Ferguson.
A year later, Ferguson retired. United won the league that season and has spent more than a decade trying to find its way back ever since.
The players, the recruitment, the confidence, the gravitational pull of the club: a lot of it walked out with one man.
Most growth-stage businesses have a Ferguson. A founder, a CTO, a commercial leader who is the reason other people said yes. The reason investors leaned in. The reason the team holds its nerve when things get hard.
The uncomfortable question isn’t whether they’re important. It’s what actually happens to the business if they’re suddenly not there — through illness, burnout, or the unexpected.
It tends to be a much better conversation to have before the next round than after.
