The Role of the Founder/CEO: You Have One Job

---

Most people have a certain image in their minds when they think of a founder/CEO.

They picture the boss in the corner office, standing behind her desk, gazing out over the city. They imagine someone calling all the shots, and everyone relying on their insight and wisdom — a visionary who is never wrong. They fear being grilled, berated, and guilted into working long hours — inevitable top-down command-and-control.

When startup founders take this approach today, they fail.

In my experience, this couldn’t be further from the true purpose of the role.
Yet, too many founders fall into the trap of trying to live out this image — and I’ve seen their startups underperform or even fold as a result.

Over the past decade, I have founded and exited two companies — Increo and Crashlytics — and then stayed on to build large teams at the acquirers — Box and Twitter. And as an angel investor in 30+ startups and entrepreneurs, I have had the opportunity to see the role’s function outside of myself, and the successes and challenges that different founders’ approaches beget. You can continue reading the rest of the article here.