The big debate lies in whether or not the founder of a company should automatically become the CEO. A technical founder, for instance, might lack the training to make critical business decisions and, instead, might be more focused on the technical details instead of the long-term commercial goals - the “big picture”. Yet, the technical founder is critical and knows the innovation through and through – without this critical player, there wouldn’t be a start-up in the first place! Some technical founders opt to become CEOs, while others choose to onboard a CEO with business expertise to complement their technical capabilities. The decision on which way to go is completely up to the Founder. However, having both business and technical expertise is necessary for your company. Also, seeing the “big picture” for your company can be beneficial to extend beyond your daily thinking and your business's daily needs. So, if you are a technical founder that wants to be the CEO, here are some tactics to help you tackle business and focus on your start-up goals:
Become Learners
Technical founders and CEOs have a natural craving for knowledge - most of them are eager learners. It is much easier to teach a scientist or engineer business skills than the other way around. Make sure to have trusty advisors that specialize in business strategy, sales, marketing, finance, legal, etc. that you can learn from and understand how they would approach the same problem through different lenses. This perspective will help technical CEOs learn how to manage their teams and run their start-ups. With time, patience, and persistence, you will learn all of these other business skillsets that will help complement your technical background. Of course, books, courses, and YouTube videos are other excellent ways to gain business knowledge.
By Understanding Who They Are
Being a CEO is a humbling experience and can add significant value to your self-discovery journey as you proceed through your new entrepreneurial chapter. Before CEOs can efficiently run a business and manage others, they must understand their own skills and abilities. How well do you know yourself? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What is your temperament like? How do you deal with conflict if you have to perform under pressure? As you discover more about yourself, you will learn what is your leadership style and how that can ensure you have the right team members to compliment those skillsets.
It is important for technical CEOs to always keep the “big picture” in mind so that they can see the long-term possibilities of their start-up and its potential for prosperity. CEOs can thrive in business by learning about all business aspects, including sales and marketing, and knowing their skills. In the book Train Like a Scientist, Think Like an Entrepreneur (available on Amazon today), you will learn a couple of tactics to remind technical founders to focus on the “big picture” in business and to think like a CEO. Order it today for tips on how to transform your start-up.