In under two years, OSS Ventures evolved from a founder-driven organisation into a leadership system that no longer relies on a single person to function.
That shift didn’t come from strategy decks or restructuring.
It came from the founder, Renan Devillieres, changing how he leads.
Renan is the founder of OSS Ventures, a venture builder working with industrial and manufacturing startups across Europe and the US.
By early 2024, OSS was growing fast.
The team was expanding. The partnership was maturing. The ambition was high.
And Renan was everywhere.
“I was still in the middle of everything.
It worked, but it couldn’t scale.”
That awareness is what triggered the coaching work with InnerEdge.
Renan's struggle wasn’t with motivation, competence, or vision.
It was with something more subtle, and more common among high-performing founders:
He had become the center of gravity of the organisation.
Decisions flowed through him. Standards lived in his head. Energy came from his presence.
“I didn’t want a company that performs because I push.
I wanted one that performs because it’s built that way.”
At first, the symptoms looked operational:
But coaching quickly revealed the real issue wasn’t workload.
It was leadership design.
The early work focused on helping Renan step out of execution without lowering standards.
That wasn’t easy.
“When I wasn’t involved, I felt guilty. It was like letting something slip.”
Through 1:1 coaching, shadowing Renan in action, and structured feedback from his leadership team, three shifts happened.
Renan started distinguishing between:
“I realised my job wasn’t to solve problems anymore. It was to build people who solve them.”
Instead of being the reference point himself, Renan worked on making expectations explicit:
“If things fall apart when I step back, then I haven’t built a system. I’ve built dependency.”
As Renan delegated more, something unexpected happened: his mental load dropped.
Decisions became cleaner, conversations shorter, and energy more focused.
“I got more clarity in addition to more time.”
The biggest moment came when Renan analysed his own meetings.
“Decisions are better distributed when I’m not in the room.”
That insight was uncomfortable and decisive.
Instead of correcting the team, Renan corrected the system:
“Leadership is language.”
By early 2026, the effects were visible.
For Renan:
“I’m no longer the emotional shock absorber of the company.”
For OSS Ventures:
“The company feels stronger because now more people lead.”
This is the real ROI of coaching when a founder stops being the silent constraint.
Most founders fail because:
Renan became more important by becoming less necessary. That allowed him to grow and scale OSS Ventures.
Renan’s journey was about evolution rather than fixing weaknesses.
From founder-as-engine to leader-as-architect to organisation-that-runs-without-him.
OSS Ventures is now a successful, world-class venture studio, growing ever faster.
If you’re a founder who feels:
You’re not failing. You’re just at the next edge.
If this story feels uncomfortably familiar, it’s usually a signal, not a coincidence.
You can book a free call with us to explore whether coaching could make the same leverage for you.
