CEOs

Published on Twitter, August 24, 2014

In tech, we talk about difference between technical-founder/CEO (product/eng background) vs professional CEO (sales/marketing background).

Our general theory is: Easier to teach product innovator how to manage, than it is to teach sales/marketing operator how to innovate. There are many exceptions in both directions, of course. Mountain is hard to climb either way. Lots of work/learning/adaptation required. I propose another lens on dynamic: Difference between knowing What & Who, vs knowing How, Where, & When. Bear with me...

Great tech founder/CEOs tend to focus on What & Who: What product to build, and Who to hire/train/retain/motivate to build it.

Great pro CEOs tend to focus on How, Where, & When: How = processes; Where = geographic expansion; When = optimizing business across time.

To succeed at scale, each needs to learn the other skills & hire people who have them:

• Founder/CEO -> How/Where/When

• Pro CEO -> What/Who

The challenge: Usually easier to hire skilled business professionals who know How/Where/When than What/Who. Fishing from unbalanced pool.

The trap: Only nailing What/Who can carry startup a long way, but only nailing How/Where/When = slow road to zombieland and company death.

Ultimately = team-building for both paths. But dynamic different & differently challenging in each direction; requires open discussion.

Addendum: The Why = the mission. Ideally beyond just "the company's success". Increasingly important for all paths. Addendum: The truly great tech CEOs have mastered all of these: What, Who, How, Where, & When... and Why.