51–60 of 73 posts
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Which he should do in private.
I simply disagree. I believe that good companies will head in this direction of transparency. We all know that all humans have faults, and acknowledging them upfront goes a long way with some like myself. TBH, you sound like my 75 yr old father that ran a $2B business for the last 23 years, and I guess I hope that attitude goes away with our elders.
Its not really a surprise that when doing something you've never done before, your a little lost. Thats normal.
But the buying public dont want to hear that. It bursts their bubble about CEOs.
It'll be interesting to see if the next round of investors bring up this blog post. Its not really a surprise that when doing something you've never done before, your a little lost. Thats normal. But the buying public dont want to hear that. It bursts their bubble about CEOs.
And ironically, they're currently down because they forgot to renew their domain.
I am very grateful for this post. One of the most common pieces of valuable feedback I got before starting my company (as a sole founder) is that I need to keep going no matter what - especially in times of self-doubt. I always considered myself to be confident, and self-assured (not obnoxious, just confident)...but starting a company is a completely different cup of tea. I have both a Computer Science degree + an MB…
I am lucky to have great investors, a strong and friendly board, a few great employees, but like you said, I often am doing things I have no idea how to do.
My one tip to other first-time CEOs: over communicate. I send out a weekly(ish) internal email to my team, board, investors, and advisors. Everyone gets the same email, so there is no bullshitting. The investors love it.
It'll be interesting to see if the next round of investors bring up this blog post. Its not really a surprise that when doing something you've never done before, your a little lost. Thats normal. But the buying public dont want to hear that. It bursts their bubble about CEOs.
I think thenpost was courageous ansnsmart.
Every CEO was new to the job at some point. So was every founder. What he's saying is no mystery to any of us entrepreneurs. He just happened to have his entry picked up on HN ;-)
(Not to diminish what he wrote, of course - cheers to his honesty!)
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This is an attitude I've never agreed with. Say you're an investor. Would you rather this CEO put on an I-know-what-I'm-doing face, and imply that he's got this all under control? Or would you rather he be upfront about his lack of experience but determination to get it right by learning and surrounding himself with smart people that can help him? Maybe he fails, maybe he doesn't. At least you know what you're gettin…
> Would you rather this CEO put on an I-know-what-I'm-doing face, and imply that he's got this all under control? Up front in my office or up front in a public blog? I certainly wouldn't want him scaring off potential deals with over-the-top candor. > Dishonesty is dishonesty no matter how you cut it. This is a ridiculous assertion. If you walk around saying every true thing that comes into your mind at best you'll b…
Actually, this guy seems to have done pretty well that way: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Blanton