Q: As a startup CEO, I don’t feel confident to call myself CEO even though our company makes positive revenue and goes in the right direction, Is it normal?
Yes, it’s pretty common. We’ve all felt this way, myself included.
The CEO of Atlassian shared at SaaStr Annual he felt the same way, and that he was basically unemployable:
Here’s the thing: you have to get over it.
Here’s why:
- First, customers love, love, love to talk to the CEO. And they are OK if you are a 5 person startup. They just want to connect with the CEO. More on that here.
- Second, it’s good to be humble — but the team needs to know who their leader is. That’s got to be you.
- Third, we all started out that way. You will get better. Why? Because in a few years, almost no one will know the space as well as you. And no one will know the product as well as you. A related post here.
You’ll grow into the CEO you need to be.
For a long while, you probably aren't a great CEO
But you know the customers
The software
The feature gaps
The roadmap
The competition
How to sell it
How to market it
How to build itSo maybe as flawed as you are
You are still the best CEO
— Jason ✨BeKind✨ Lemkin ⚫️ (@jasonlk) October 22, 2020
