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Do you think I would be better off stepping down as CEO?” “Wayne”, a CEO I’m working with, said to me. “My investors are offering to make me Executive Chairman or CTO. Maybe I should take the offer?”
“I think it’s a huge mistake for you to step down,” I said. “I know there are a lot of problems the company has, and I know you’ve got to get better as CEO, but I think if you step down, the company will fail.”
“Why do feel that way?” Wayne asked me.
Founding CEO advantage number one: You’re not going to find someone better than you to run your startup, especially if you’re an early stage startup.
“Who are they (your investors) going to find that’s better than you?” I asked. “Seriously, your revenue isn’t even $1 million per year. There’s no way an experienced CEO is going to be interested in joining your company.”
“Did you take a look at the candidates?” Wayne had sent me a list of the CEO candidates his investors wanted him to interview.
“Yeah, I did,” I said. “There’s no one with a great resume. It seems to me that they’re gonna just try and sell the company if you step down.
