For the uninitiated, there's no difference between a founder and a CEO. Both sit high in the corporate sky like gods, ruling over everyone’s fate with power and unpredictability.
On one hand, employees of a large company revere the shareholder, but on the other hand, they know their stability and prosperity depend solely on the CEO.
The CEO knows better than anyone how far he is from the founder.
A friend once shared how he managed assets for an oligarch. Alongside other managers, mostly ex-McKinsey, they devised a plan to save the company $50 million. Proud of themselves, they looked down on the beneficiary. That was until he sold his unremarkable bank for $2 billion.
Many can multiply one, but few can create it from zero.
Flying in the atmosphere is one thing; space is another. In the first case, you need wings and an engine to interact with the air, generating lift and thrust. In the second, you need reactive thrust: a rocket ejects fuel, and by the law of momentum, it moves in the opposite direction. In the vacuum of space, wings are useless.
That's why not every CEO can become a founder. You have to unlock those abilities and build those skills that no business school can truly teach. Thankfully, not everyone needs to. Because prolific entrepreneurs desperately need virtuoso CEOs to turn their groundbreaking business ideas into reality.
Sincerely yours,
-Alexander
About me:
As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.
How can I help you?
If you've long been trying to understand what is limiting you and/or your business and how to finally give important changes a push, then The Catalyst Session is designed specifically for you. Book it here.