[TomOfTTB]

On Google he mentions Etsy as an example but there are also quite a few famous examples.

Microsoft was essentially run by Jon Shirley in its early days. People forget Steve Jobs was never CEO of Apple before he returned (most seem to think he was CEO before hiring Sculley but that just isn't true). I even remember Jim Barksdale commenting on how he expected Marc Andreessen to eventually take the reins at Netscape.

So there's a long tradition of founders stepping aside at first only to take over the company at a later date.