A CEO’s Job

Often times I meet with founders starting companies for the first time and there is always an interesting discussion in the earliest stages of “who’s going to be CEO?”

Often my response to help founders in solving this question in their org chart is just asking “what does a CEO do?” This question usually leads to a myriad of responses and at the beginning that’s the correct response. The CEO of a startup is doing a bunch of things. However, it is key to realize that the CEO is, in fact, doing the job of another person who isn’t there yet, taking on the responsibilities of another role yet to be created. For example, startup CEO’s create financial models for their companies however in a scaled-up company, that really goes under the purview of the CFO. So what is the real job of the CEO? I think Fred Wilson sums it up best but here’s my own spin.

1 — Set a vision for the company that inspires people you interact with.

The vision of a company is not an answer to what, (ie creating a CRM to manage contacts) but why (ie enabling businesses to improve the state of the world by better serving their customers). It should be a simple statement that inspires customers to buy from you, people to work for you, and investors to trust you.

2 — Build a team to make the vision a reality