Becoming a Great CEO: Jonathan Lowenhar

\"To be a founder is a state of being... To be a CEO is a craft... So what I would encourage every founder out there that wants to go build something substantial: Go work on your craft in addition to working on the business.\"

• Identify areas where you need to grow as a CEO.
• Invest in learning and skill development.
• Balance product focus with leadership responsibilities.

\"We actually think the CEO has three jobs. We agree with two that you said. But we think there\'s a third one. It\'s make sure everyone knows where we\'re going... pick the right people for the team and... give those people the tools they need to win.\"

• Clearly communicate the company\'s vision and direction.
• Hire and retain the right talent.
• Empower your team with resources and support.

\"Because at any given time, Lenny, companies are working backwards from one of four things... I am working backwards from an exit, I\'m working backwards from my next fundraise, working backwards from profitability or I\'m working backwards from winding down.\"

• Identify your primary objective among clear options.
• Align your strategies and resources towards that goal.
• Regularly reassess to stay on the right path.

\"Brain writing is... I\'m gonna expose an idea and I want everyone to now write and weigh in... What it allows for is the dampening of the founder effect in meetings.\"

• Use brain writing to gather ideas without bias.
• Encourage input from both introverts and extroverts.
• Reduce the \"founder effect\" to promote open discussion.

\"We think of it in four pieces. The first piece is ideal customer profile... Next is Demandgen... Next, sales... We try and break this complexity... to just these four buckets.\"

• Define your ideal customer profile.
• Develop clear messaging and positioning.
• Choose demand generation channels strategically.
• Codify your sales process into a repeatable playbook.

\"That\'s the little voice and that little voice is going to be right. And where we get screwed up in life is when we stop listening to that voice... Whenever our founders face one of those moments... we try and be the only person in their life that is fully on their team.\"

• Recognize and get quiet to hear your inner voice.
• Trust your intuition during critical decisions.
• Seek support from advisors who prioritize your perspective.

\"The ready fire aim CEO says I don\'t want to do any of that [planning] because they\'re improvisational and they just want to take bets... and that\'s also what will have the company go bankrupt.\"

• Emphasize thorough planning before action.
• Set clear goals and quantify needed resources.
• Create accountability through communication rituals.

\"I think there are three core mistakes that founders make all the time that can be really easily rectified. The first one is you should hire people who have already done the thing you need to have done next.\"

• Hire people with experience in tasks you need accomplished.
• Seek candidates who\'ve been pulled into roles due to excellence.
• Ensure new hires align with your company\'s core values.

\"Magic Box argues that the best outcomes for early stage start ups don\'t happen that way. You\'re never for sale. In fact, you have seduced a buyer... They see the fantasy, they fall in love.\"

• Create a \"fantasy\" to entice potential acquirers.
• Build relationships with champions within target companies.
• Focus on proving and quantifying your startup\'s future impact.

\"To be a founder is a state of being. It\'s an attitude. To be a CEO is a craft. The more founders who can accept that those are two separate things and they\'re both equally important to build an ascendant start up, the better all of us will be.\"

• Recognize that being a CEO requires learning new skills.
• Invest time in developing CEO craft beyond founder instincts.
• Balancing both roles is crucial for startup success.