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You may think that being a successful startup CEO has everything to do with coming up with the next great idea. Sure, coming up with a great idea is part of the puzzle for startup success.
However, success as a startup CEO has a lot more to do with many other things that have nothing to do with your idea.
That’s what today’s article is all about. I’ll share with you the ten surprising keys to success as a startup CEO. Spoiler alert: None of these ten keys have anything to with your idea.
I hope you like it. Let’s start with number one on my list…
1. Your journey will be unique.
When I started my company, I got a lot of well meaning advice from my friends, family, business associates, and investors. All of them telling me what I should and shouldn’t do.
Here’s the deal. The set of circumstances you operate under will be unique to you. You might not have the same access to talent. You might have an easier time raising money because the economy is doing better. The market might or might not break the way you think. All of these things and more will be unique to you.
Your job will be to make sense of the crazy things around you and figure a path forward. It’s not easy, but it can be done. The rest of my list will give some things to think about that might help you in your situation. Let’s move to number two on my list…
2. Learn to communicate.
Years ago, there was a brilliant engineer I worked with. “Harry” had an PhD in Electrical Engineering, 37 patents, and an MBA. Yet, he was, in my humble opinion, a horrible engineer.
Harry overcomplicated everything he was doing. All you had to do to see it was listen to him speak about one of designs.
He could never explain crisply and clearly what he was doing. Not surprisingly, none of his designs worked that well because they were overcomplicated.
The same theory holds for you as a CEO. The skill you are going to more than any other skill you have is your ability to communicate.
You’ll have to communicate to potential co-founders and employees to get them to join your…
