Starting and running a startup company can be both exhilarating and exhausting. Most people seem to think that being a startup CEO is a glamorous job, loaded with fun. This thought process is not helped with many articles being written and published talking about how easier it is to raise money, exponential growth of various startups and, of course, how great is is to be a startup CEO. What we don’t hear and read enough about is the grind that comes along with being the CEO and that not every founder not wanting to be the entrepreneur.
I read an article this afternoon found at OnStartups.com , by Jason Baptiste, where he outlined some of his finding about what it takes to be a great Startup CEO that is also a founder. Essentially, Jason has identifed several traits that are common:
CEO is the keeper of the Company Vision- CEO absorbs the Pain for the Team
- CEO finds the smartest people and defers on Domain Expertise
- CEO becomes the good link between the Company and its Investors
- CEO becomes a good link between the Company and its Products
- CEO starts with Almost no experience
- CEO must have an uncanny ability to say “NO”
- CEO must be a Great Communicator
Now, his findings do have a bit more detail behind them, but I wanted to share the top line highlights of some of the secret sauce to being a successful Startup CEO. You can read the full article to learn more about Jason’s observations and to see all 14 of the traits of a successful Startup CEO.
