{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"What Founders Get Wrong About Succession &amp; Employee Ownership | Jason Wiener","description":"In this episode of Connecting with Purpose, Mark Griffin is joined by Jason Wiener, founder of CurrentShift Legal, a legal and business consulting firm serving mission-driven companies, social impact organizations, and environmentally focused enterprises. Jason specializes in employee ownership, worker-owned and stakeholder-owned business models, business formation, capital raising, restructures, and complex transactions. He is deeply passionate about using better-designed ownership models to redistribute wealth, increase employee agency, and build organizations that are both commercially strong and socially responsible. But this conversation goes far beyond legal structure. Mark and Jason explore the human side of founder transition, including identity, purpose, succession planning, leadership readiness, culture, decision-making, and the risk of founders becoming bottlenecks inside the businesses they built. Jason has lived this personally. He has stepped away from his own business, re-engaged with it, and written extensively about the complexities of founder transition. He shares why succession is not simply about transferring ownership or authority, why culture and psychological safety must come before legal mechanics, and why employees need more than compensation to feel truly invested in the future of a company. They also discuss how employee ownership can create greater agency, dignity, voice, and accountability, especially during a period of economic disruption, AI-driven change, and major generational wealth transfer. If you are a founder, business owner, senior leader, employee ownership advisor, or anyone thinking about succession, purpose, organizational culture, or the future of work, this conversation offers a thoughtful look at what sustainable transition really requires. In this episode, you\u2019ll hear about: \u2022 Founder transition and succession planning \u2022 Employee ownership and wealth redistribution \u2022 Leadership readiness and reducing founder dependence \u2022 Purpose, values, and identity \u2022 Culture, communication, and psychological safety \u2022 Decision-making and employee agency \u2022 Preparing employees to become future owners \u2022 Why legal structure alone cannot fix a broken organization \u2022 The role of ownership in building more resilient businesses \u2022 Jason\u2019s perspective on legacy, family, and long-term impact Connect with Jason Wiener: Instagram https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jwpcpbc\/ CurrentShift Legal on LinkedIn https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/currentshift-legal Jason\u2019s LinkedIn https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jrwiener\/ Website https:\/\/currentshift.legal\/ If this conversation resonates, subscribe to Connecting with Purpose for more conversations on leadership, purpose, performance, founder transition, employee ownership, and what it really takes to build organizations that can thrive beyond the founder. ","author_name":"Connecting With Purpose","author_url":"https:\/\/www.purposefused.com\/show\/","html":"<iframe title=\"Libsyn Player\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/43216593\/height\/90\/theme\/custom\/thumbnail\/yes\/direction\/forward\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/88AA3C\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"600\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe>","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/assets.libsyn.com\/secure\/content\/207277878"}