BUSINESS BLOGS
BUSINESS BLOGS
category: business
20 Aug 2008

Via TSB, From Fred Wilson:

“But as a company grows, the CEO’s job is managing people and teams, processes and priorities.”

Indeed, CEO might as well spell Chief Ego Officer, but I’m not talking about the CEO’s ego, I’m talking about the egos of those around him.

Mojo Supreme is the first company I start, and since doing so, WatchMojo.com is where I chose to focus. But before that, I worked with two successful CEOs. Both were in their 20s when they launched. Both were abrasive as hell, too.

I loved them both, but man, I’m surprised I never killed them either (I mean that figuratively, of course). At the first company, I served in a support capacity: I could have not been at the company and nothing would have been different. The second one, I helped built the joint. For better or worse, had I not been there, trust me, everything would be different (better, worst - but different, that’s for sure).

Here are some things I’ve learned about CEOs - good, bad and ugly - over those three experiences.

1- We all have egos, some just manage it better than others and see the forest through the trees.

2- Founder CEOs just want the company to succeed, so between power, fame, money and respect, they choose respect, power, money and fame, probably in that order… and understand that they need to make room for people who want those same things but in a very order than yours.

3- Founder CEOs are good when they genuinely don’t make decisions based on “money” but rather “if I had all the money in the world, what would I do and what would the best decision be?”

4 - Founder CEOs are good when they realize their limitations. At WatchMojo.com, I have helped built what I consider to become the most valuable online video content business there is, yet I’ve never shot or edited a single frame of video. Indeed, I had an idea of what online video should look like, then hired some really driven, talented and smart people to make it happen. Oh, I largely got out of their way… all the while moving the needle further out to force us to grow, expand and improve.

5- Founder CEOs are bad when they think they know it all and understand all functions. No one does, no one can.

6- Founder CEOs are ugly when they bring people in to run units and functions but don’t want to give up operational control or cede any territory to the people they bring in… then make life unbearable for all.

7- Outside CEOs are bad when they think they are the show. Because the Board brings them in and showers them with affection, these tend to go out of their way to prove/justify their value… generally at the expense of founders and the executive team.

8- Outside CEO are great when they understand the limitations of their previous successes and adapt broad lessons to their current challenges but have the common sense not to extrapolate every single thing that happened at their old gig to their new gig… avoiding making life unbearable for all.

9- CEOs - be it founders or outsiders - understand that people probably just view the job as that, a job. What motivates the troops to kick butt is wildly different than what motivates them… and they make adjustments to get the company to where it needs to go. But sort of like Bill Clinton used to be able to do: they also understand how to make each person’s life and personal goals as important as theirs.

10- Founding CEOs understand that the way the world works: if they want to remain CEO after funding, chances are they won’t… and if they want to get away and do something else, the Board won’t let / encourage them.