It’s inevitable – and vital – that, as a company scales, a founder has to remove roles from themselves.
At first it’s building a team underneath you – specialists, demand fulfillment, etc. Less time is spend on day-to-day execution, and more time is spent planning, overseeing, and managing. But there still may be some bastions of your original role remaining as part of your overall responsibilities.
But we reached a point where I had to fire myself from that. Not just because the company needed me focused on more high-leverage activities. But my skills didn’t match what was needed for this stage of the company. In order to grow the very product I had created, I had to remove myself from it.
As a founder, I’m still responsible for the overall vision and high-level execution. But day-to-day, the role I once valued myself by is no longer mine.
For 24 hours, I’ve never felt more miserable. Then, I never felt more empowered.
I could not agree more!! I hired a president this past summer and I have never felt more free to focus on my vision for the company. Amazing!!
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