The lessons learned from the construction and operation companies are mostly learned in a difficult way.
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Editor’s note: It is natural for the founder to be a CEO. The company was founded by me, and management and management should be my business. And the founder is a good example of CEO success. Jobs, Zuckerberg, etc. are not all. But in fact, this is a role at two different stages of development, and the requirements for skills are very different. The data shows that only about 20% of the founders will retain the CEO’s title when they successfully exit. To this end, Joel Wish, a serial entrepreneur, sums up the four differences between the founder and the CEO, and provides practical advice for the founder to successfully transition to the CEO, which can be used by entrepreneurs. Originally published on the medium, titled: The 4 Big Ways That “Founder” and “CEO” Are Different Jobs
Among start-ups, the “founder CEO” has a mysterious power – the visionary can not only nurture new ideas, but also put them into practice at different stages of the organization. Zuckerberg, Jobs, Benioff, these are the manifestations of this myth.
But in fact, the founder and CEO are two different roles. There are very few people who can transition from the former to the latter. In fact, by the time of the initial public offering, only about a quarter of the founders managed to keep their CEO titles, and most (nearly 80%) had been swept away.
However, despite the great difficulties, many founders, including me, believe that they can finally make the transition. The truth is that most founders underestimate the methods, ways of thinking, and sometimes even the sudden changes in philosophy that are required to achieve a successful transition. I want to share the experience I learned from the transition from the founder of Simple Health to the CEO. I hope that these will help you become the 20% who survived.
But before we dive in, let’s first confirm the difference between the founder and the CEO.
Experience #1: Everyone loves the founder, but the CEO is not so flattering
In the beginning, the founder role was extremely overwhelming and extremely exciting before finding a product/market match. The possibilities often seem to be infinite. You have a small team, everyone is convinced of your vision, and you can see meaningful progress every day.
But with the development of the company, as the founder slowly turns into a CEO, many things are changing. Your job is to clarify the focus of the organization: what to pursue and what to pursue. And some of these decisions will inevitably lead to conflicts with the visions and ideas of others within the company.
This is inevitable, because as a CEO, what you care about now – partnerships, financing, etc. – is not even the focus of most employees. However, when it comes to employee concerns, no matter how different those problems are from your higher priority goals, you need to solve those problems seriously and urgently. This is your responsibility.
This is why the CEO sometimes says his work is “lonely.” As your priorities become more and more sui generis, it is increasingly difficult for people in your organization to understand the reasons for your decisions.
Summary: As your organization grows, your perspectives and goals will become different. As a result, some employees will have difficulty understanding how and why you make decisions. Therefore, you should be prepared to say a lot of “sorry”, and you have to pounce on a lot of grenades to cover your team so that they can achieve their goals.
Experience #2: CEO has no “opinions” of his own
During the transition from the founder to the CEO, you will find that the days when your speech is not drafted, your thoughts are unpredictable, and your behavior is capricious is gone. Suddenly, anything that comes out of your mouth is more than just a speculative idea, but the way your company does business – your default policy or strategy.
Summary: To be honest, it’s surprising that speeches don’t make drafts that inadvertently affect everyone’s emotions. So, if you want to talk to the team, you must first think clearly (I have been working hard).
Experience #3: It will be a lot harder for you to make a decision
When you speak more, there is one more thing for you.Still need to adapt: you have to choose between all the bad options. This is because when you build a strong leadership under yourself, it’s a daunting task on your desk, because it’s almost like this. They will only come to you if and only if things can’t be solved. Therefore, you will have to make choices in a dilemma, and you must act quickly because the others who were organized before you acted are basically degraded.
Summary: Be prepared to make some extremely difficult decisions – thank you for the inevitable decision.
Experience #4: You are not only creating products, but also organizations
Although the founder of the company was born, the CEO who raised him was the CEO. This process requires a shift in the way of thinking, from creating amazing products to building an organization that can produce amazing products. This is an independent entity that needs to be able to adapt and win over a long period of time.
The following are some of the questions you have to start thinking about:
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How does information flow internally and externally?
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How did you decide to make it? Who will make the decision?
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What opportunities should we pursue and why?
It’s not easy to find the right answer, and the same advantages that make you turn your original creative vision into reality are no longer an advantage. In fact, the skills of independent contributors who make your product and the original vision a reality are almost useless.
Summary: Imagine a product, then set up a dedicated team to develop the required skill set, and successfully manage a company as a separate entity (sometimes included Hundreds or even thousands of different minds have different skills.
Other sporadic ideas
This is the four lessons I have summarized, but they are by no means the only lessons, but I think these are the most valuable lessons you can refer to on the way forward. If you dream of creating an amazing product as a founder and then want to grow into a CEO of a living organization, don’t be discouraged by my frankness. Everything is possible – I just say it because I want to provide a real, transparent and actionable guide. I think that most of the articles that talk about startups today don’t have these elements. (If you haven’t read my article on “Entrepreneurial Pornography”, please read it. After reading it, you can understand this trend well. )).
Translator: boxi.