‍Years before the Headspace merger, Ginger had already survived a serious conflict among its founders.

In 2017, the company was gaining traction but missing the milestones it needed to scale, and it was running out of cash. The leadership team disagreed about what to do next. Some wanted to sell the company. Others wanted to rebuild the team and raise another round.

Karan Singh, Ginger’s co-founder, eventually concluded that the company did not have the right leadership in place. He broke rank with his co-founder and began speaking candidly with the board about the problems inside the company.

Those conversations led to a difficult but necessary decision. Ginger needed a new CEO. Karan stepped in as interim CEO, and we worked closely with him through the transition and the search for new leadership. The process took more than six months and included interviews with more than 30 candidates before the company hired Russ Glass. Karan’s co-founder ultimately left the company.

It was a painful period, but Ginger emerged with stronger leadership and returned to growth. The experience reinforced a basic lesson: when leadership is misaligned, avoiding the difficult decision only makes the eventual cost higher.