Ashok Shastry (left), co-founder of DriveU, stepped down from the company at the end of July but will remain on the board.

DriveU is an on-demand driver aggregator.

Shastry joined DriveU in 2015 and held several positions, including chief operating officer, chief growth officer, and chief executive officer.

He said in a LinkedIn post that his decision to leave was personal and not related to the company’s performance or strategic direction.

DriveU was co-founded by Rahm Shastry, Ashok Shastry, and Amulmeet Singh Chadha Shastry.

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🔗 Source: The Economic Times

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Tech leadership transitions surge even during strong company performance

Shastry’s departure occurs during DriveU’s strongest financial period, with the company reporting 22% revenue growth to Rs 111.8 crore and a fifteen-fold increase in profit to Rs 1.7 crore in FY25 1.

This reflects a broader trend where tech executives are increasingly willing to change roles regardless of company performance. For example, 74% of technology officers expressed willingness to change positions in 2024, up significantly from 50% in 2022 2.

The trend suggests that personal career considerations and market opportunities are driving leadership changes more than company-specific factors.

Tech leaders today face multiple pressures, including rapid technological change, cybersecurity threats, and uncertain economic conditions, which may influence their career decisions even when their current companies are performing well 2.

2️⃣ Board retention becomes critical strategy for founder transition management

DriveU’s decision to retain Shastry as a board member while he steps down from operations demonstrates how companies can preserve institutional knowledge during leadership changes.

Research shows that 90% of teams with smooth leadership transitions are more likely to meet their three-year performance goals compared to those with unsuccessful transitions 3.

By keeping Shastry on the board after his decade of service across multiple roles—from COO to CGO to CEO—DriveU maintains access to his strategic insights while allowing operational leadership to evolve.

This approach is particularly valuable for startups where founders possess deep market understanding and customer relationships that can’t be easily transferred to new leadership teams.

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