Team, Transition, and Continuity

De-rusting Day 4

As I continue speaking to OGs of the industry, team is by far the most asked question amongst many others. This got me to recall a thought I had shared with some VC friends a while back.

Do we expect founders to last the journey? You know, the iconic figurehead of the company. Intrincsically, founders are dreamers, not builders. Of course, founders need the skillset to build, otherwise the dream wouldn't come to fruition. To what level would they be expected to continue building? Invariably, the operational aspects of the business may just dull the instinctual habits of a dreamer.

How then do we remain and become the best version of being founders? I believe that in the process of starting and building your company, succession plan has to be considered as part of the build. Only very few founders remain from start to finish. Often times, the 'succession' plan is due to unwanted situations. You don't want that. Founders shouldn't crave for titles or positions, as if a loss of that title diminishes the great work they're doing.

I recall having an in-depth conversation with my partner at Touchstone, Tu Ngo, where at Yola, they rotated the roles of the c-suite, even when it was a senior hire, it took the time to train and move this hire to the CEO position.

Why this is important? You build a moat by creating reliability of your leadership team, consistently having the best people at the point of the where the business is. There is actually a plan for it. This is what I admire about Yola.

We all have our limitations. We can possibly do the best in what we know to be our strengths, the rest you can only try by learning as much as you can. When you recognize your limitations, and work to removing that 'glass ceiling', the better you become. Your business at 10 people is different when it's 100, and it's different again when it's 1,000. If you're not the best person at any of this juncture, find the best. ​