> because they don't know how to run any kind of business, let alone a mega-successful high-growth tech startup.

(1)For "run", this
is a common statement, but I believe that it
is contradicted by oceans of simple observations:
The US, coast to coast, village to the largest
cities, is just awash in solo founder, entrepreneur,
small and medium family businesses. Examples include
auto repair, auto body repair, grass mowing
and landscaping, plumbing, residential and
small business electrical, roofing,
carpentry (e.g., for a deck), swimming pool
installation, dentistry, family practice
medicine, restaurants of various kinds from
franchised fast food to pizza carryout,
Italian red sauce, French bistro, and Chinese
carryout, a hardware store, a restaurant
supply store,
a huge range of big truck, little
truck businesses where the owner buys in
large quantities and sells in small
quantities, independent insurance
agency, medical testing lab,
and many more with variety too large
to characterize. E.g., in my neighborhood
the shrubbery around a house was too large.
So, a team came in with a simple chain saw
and a few simple tools, and cut way back all
the green, loaded it on a large sheet of plastic,
dragged it to some woods, and piled it where
it will slowly decompose into 'soil'. Apparently
the team was recently from Mexico, but they
had a nice, new pickup truck.

There are millions of such businesses in the
US where the owner, sole proprietor makes
money enough to be a good breadwinner, and
the more successful such owners make money
enough for a vacation house, a restored
muscle car and other toys, and a
50' yacht. In my area it appears that the
electricians work four day weeks, i.e.,
Friday is golf day.

For example, a guy good at managing
10 fast food restaurants can pay himself
over $1 million a year.

Flatly, these business people definitely
do know how to "run" their businesses.
Even a guy recently from Mexico,
China, or India can quickly learn how to "run"
his business.

(2) For "mega-successful high-growth tech startup",
if this is a serious problem, then there is
an easy solution: Convert the business to a
mega-successful low-growth tech startup.
Generally conversion from low-growth to
high-growth is challenging but conversion
from high-growth to low-growth is easy.

A guy in business who is able to get plenty
of paying customers can get a lot of advice
on how to run a business from
bookkeepers, accountants, lawyers,
business insurance agents, bankers, friends,
mentors retired
from business, etc.
It works, everyday, all across the US,
in many millions of cases. It's
putting kids through Ivy League
universities, paying for family
winter ski vacations and
summer boating/fishing vacations,
paying for high end cars from
Mercedes, BMW, Cadillac, Lexus, etc.,
paying for single family homes
at $500,000+, etc., and rarely with
any formal training in how to run a
business.

The general idea that how to run a business
is really obscure knowledge
is wacko; tell that to a guy
doing well mowing grass
-- three teams, each with about
$100,000 in equipment --
with much less than a high
school education, poor knowledge
of English, and recently from
Mexico without benefit of papers.

If an information technology business
can get customers and revenue, then
how to "run" the business is
something many millions of sole proprietors
learn on the job and not
some secret, black art.