business-plan, founder, ceo, leadershipIf two founders start a company together and hire some early employees, there is a general sentiment of equality between the founders and the employees.
The employees understand the divide between themselves and the founders, but it becomes difficult to establish a hierarchy between the founders.
Both founders understand that, at some point, one will have to take the lead though, of course, joint leadership is possible (depending on how the company scales).
When that time comes for the founders and the early employees to decide on who takes the lead of President/CEO (if hiring one externally is out of the question), how should they decide?
One founder has many more responsibilities than the other and has done much less in terms of building the company, but was a driving force in the idea and initial founding stage.
Should the founders continue with joint leadership or should the more active founder take the reins (assuming that no hostilities are created by either one taking leadership over the other)?
It is good to realize that every role has specific responsibilities and tasks, and thus specific personalities and professional experience that fit those roles. When it comes to hierarchy, the executive management works for the shareholders. Yes, a CEO might appear to have the most influential role, but in the end it’s the shareholders that decide who the best CEO is. And they can fire her if that is no longer the case.
The role of a CEO is that of a strategic decision-maker. Long-term thinking, and representing the companies interests both inside the company and to the outside world. A CEO is the person who facilitates others to make the vision of the company a reality. You should pick the person who fits that role best, not the one who is most active or had the original idea.
All members of the executive board or management team are required to make the company a success. If you are a technical startup, the CTO role can be more desirable than the CEO role. You can shape the product, services and engineering culture while leaving the politics to the CEO.
I have started a number of companies, but in only one was I the CEO. I enjoyed that position the least, while in the other roles and positions I had a much greater influence on realizing my vision, while making sure that the best visible representative for that vision had the CEO role.
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