6 ms·

Ask HN: How to decide who should be CEO?

6 points by ryanmccullagh 10y ago

If you have a 2 person startup, how do you decide who is CEO?

ohstopitu 10y ago
I don't have an answer to the question...but a follow up question. If you are a 1 person startup (and don't want to be a CEO), how would you decide on the CEO as and when that may be? (say you decide you want to be a CTO / COO)
- Lordarminius 10y ago
  > If you are a 1 person startup (and don't want to be a CEO)... If you are reluctant to do any job required in your startup, the viability of said startup is in question. You could always ask your dad or uncle or whomever to fill the role for you. But beware - large oaks grow from small acorns and ceding control/ shirking responsibility at such an early stage can have negative consequences down thre road; one of which may be a lack of familiarity with how your business truly operates. When your little hustle is ready to become a pre-IPO giant, what then?
  - ohstopitu 10y ago
    I didn't mean I didn't want to do any job required for my startup, it's just that I enjoyed coding more than I enjoyed the rest of the stuff (which I always looked at as more of the CEO's responsibility)
hoodoof 10y ago
If the two of you cannot easily answer this question then your journey is going to be a troubled one.
- Lordarminius 10y ago
  >If the two of you cannot easily answer this question then your journey is going to be a troubled one. I came here to say the same thing. But then again I want to give you the benefit of doubt and assume you're two wet-behind-the-ears teenage kids in a garage building the next MSFT :) Toss a coin. Whoever wins is CEO for 3 years then the next person can take over.
  - ryanmccullagh 10y ago
    What if I'm the one with the technical skills, and the other founder is not?
    - Lordarminius 10y ago
      Then let him be the CEO while you be the CTO. That defers the issue for 3-5 years. I am assuming of course that he is qualified to run a(the) company.
      - ryanmccullagh 10y ago
        Titles aren't the most important thing to me in the beginning, but I'm more concerned about control. Since I'll be building the entire product, I feel that I should have a larger equity stake. Do you agree?
        Lordarminius 10y ago
        No. You should split the equity in proportion to your individual contributions to the company. Your your partner brings something to the table which you do not possess (the ideal situation) then he should be compensated accordingly. You should weigh your perceptions against his expectations and arrive at compromise that is acceptable to both parties. If you can build the product and guide it to a successful launch ( irrespective of who conceived the idea), you should do so without him because strictly speaking you do not need him. There is no place for an "idea guy" in a startup
        Tomte 10y ago
        If you're basically the only one who matters, why do you have a co-founder? Presumably because he brings other, non-technical skills to the table. "Since I'm doing all the marketing, selling, legal stuff, and I'm handling a thousand other nuisances (while my partner is just happily coding away), I feel I should have a larger equity stake." See the problem? As an aside: the CEO position is independent from the equity distribution.
        10y ago
alain94040 10y ago
The CEO should be the one who is pushing the other. The one who goes the extra mile to do all the millions of little, insignificant things that a startup requires. source: long experience with co-founder teams
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
csa 10y ago
In broad terms, the CEO typically does fundraising and marketing. Realistically, both people will be working on many aspects of the business -- it's not always prudent to silo duties early in a business. Based on other replies, equity and control may be issues that concern you. Spolsky's post on this matter is widely cited as a response to this question. There are also quite a few posts that dispute his thesis. These are relatively easy to google. This is one example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2493356 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2493356 Here is a list: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4941933 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4941933 Note that there can be issues that 50/50 doesn't appear cover cleanly -- supplying cash, full time versus part time, building, selling, contacts/network, etc. Some would say that all of these other things, if they lead to something other than 50/50, may suggest the business is doomed from the start. While I will remain neutral on that question in this reply, it's certainly a good thought exercise. Most of all, I wonder if you would choose to marry your potential cofounder. If your response is not "hell yeah!", you may want to reconsider. You will effectively be married to this person for quite a while, and any weaknesses in your relationship will be amplified. Best of luck! (Edit: answered the original question)

6 points by ryanmccullagh 10y ago

If you have a 2 person startup, how do you decide who is CEO?

I don't have an answer to the question...but a follow up question. If you are a 1 person startup (and don't want to be a CEO), how would you decide on the CEO as and when that may be? (say you decide you want to be a CTO / COO)

Lordarminius 10y ago
> If you are a 1 person startup (and don't want to be a CEO)... If you are reluctant to do any job required in your startup, the viability of said startup is in question. You could always ask your dad or uncle or whomever to fill the role for you. But beware - large oaks grow from small acorns and ceding control/ shirking responsibility at such an early stage can have negative consequences down thre road; one of which may be a lack of familiarity with how your business truly operates. When your little hustle is ready to become a pre-IPO giant, what then?
- ohstopitu 10y ago
  I didn't mean I didn't want to do any job required for my startup, it's just that I enjoyed coding more than I enjoyed the rest of the stuff (which I always looked at as more of the CEO's responsibility)

hoodoof 10y ago

If the two of you cannot easily answer this question then your journey is going to be a troubled one.

Lordarminius 10y ago
>If the two of you cannot easily answer this question then your journey is going to be a troubled one. I came here to say the same thing. But then again I want to give you the benefit of doubt and assume you're two wet-behind-the-ears teenage kids in a garage building the next MSFT :) Toss a coin. Whoever wins is CEO for 3 years then the next person can take over.
- ryanmccullagh 10y ago
  What if I'm the one with the technical skills, and the other founder is not?
  - Lordarminius 10y ago
    Then let him be the CEO while you be the CTO. That defers the issue for 3-5 years. I am assuming of course that he is qualified to run a(the) company.
    - ryanmccullagh 10y ago
      Titles aren't the most important thing to me in the beginning, but I'm more concerned about control. Since I'll be building the entire product, I feel that I should have a larger equity stake. Do you agree?
      - Lordarminius 10y ago
        No. You should split the equity in proportion to your individual contributions to the company. Your your partner brings something to the table which you do not possess (the ideal situation) then he should be compensated accordingly. You should weigh your perceptions against his expectations and arrive at compromise that is acceptable to both parties. If you can build the product and guide it to a successful launch ( irrespective of who conceived the idea), you should do so without him because strictly speaking you do not need him. There is no place for an "idea guy" in a startup
      - Tomte 10y ago
        If you're basically the only one who matters, why do you have a co-founder? Presumably because he brings other, non-technical skills to the table. "Since I'm doing all the marketing, selling, legal stuff, and I'm handling a thousand other nuisances (while my partner is just happily coding away), I feel I should have a larger equity stake." See the problem? As an aside: the CEO position is independent from the equity distribution.
      - 10y ago

alain94040 10y ago

The CEO should be the one who is pushing the other. The one who goes the extra mile to do all the millions of little, insignificant things that a startup requires. source: long experience with co-founder teams

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

csa 10y ago

In broad terms, the CEO typically does fundraising and marketing. Realistically, both people will be working on many aspects of the business -- it's not always prudent to silo duties early in a business. Based on other replies, equity and control may be issues that concern you. Spolsky's post on this matter is widely cited as a response to this question. There are also quite a few posts that dispute his thesis. These are relatively easy to google. This is one example: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2493356 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2493356 Here is a list: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4941933 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4941933 Note that there can be issues that 50/50 doesn't appear cover cleanly -- supplying cash, full time versus part time, building, selling, contacts/network, etc. Some would say that all of these other things, if they lead to something other than 50/50, may suggest the business is doomed from the start. While I will remain neutral on that question in this reply, it's certainly a good thought exercise. Most of all, I wonder if you would choose to marry your potential cofounder. If your response is not "hell yeah!", you may want to reconsider. You will effectively be married to this person for quite a while, and any weaknesses in your relationship will be amplified. Best of luck! (Edit: answered the original question)