I recently stumbled on this great article below from my good colleague, David Gardner (pictured), the founder and General Partner at Co-Founders Capital, one of the most active early-stage venture capital firms in the Southeast, based in the Raleigh-Durham area. David was kind enough to let me share this article with all of you startup CEO readers.
What I liked about this article was it was a clear way to score your performance, which isn't easy to do as a CEO, typically with no boss to help critique you. Whether you are doing it with the lens of what an investor is looking for, as detailed below, or whether you are doing it for yourself, just to see if you are doing a good job, everyone needs to be accountable for their actions, including the CEO!!
If you scored perfectly on the below categories, you would earn a total score of 70. If you were average in each of these categories, you would earn a score of 42. And, since nobody is perfect and you want to be materially better than average, I would say shooting for a score of 56 or better is where you want to end up.
So, after reading the article, score yourself, in an honest and self-reflective way, and see how you are doing. If you are doing well, congrats, keep up the good work and you should have no problem fund raising. But, if you are not, it's time to sharpen your skills, especially if you plan on raising venture capital.
Thanks again, David, for sharing your wisdom with our readers.
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Being a CEO is a tough job especially the first time someone has to wear that hat. Constructive and actionable feedback can be hard to come by. It can also be difficult to know how well you are doing and what areas you might need to improve upon when you don’t have a boss observing you firsthand. You can only improve what you measure and CEO performance is no exception to that rule.
To help our portfolio CEOs, we have developed the following evaluation criteria. It covers some of the things we look for in a solid operator and leader. This annual evaluation is meant to be completed by the CEO, their direct reports and the board members in an anonymous 360 aggregated review. It’s purpose is honest feedback to facilitate awareness and constructive discussion. We ask each reviewer to rate the CEO being reviewed in each of the following 14 categories, on scale from 1 to 5 scale, as defined below:
- Very deficient and detrimental to the organization
- Needs a lot of improvement
- Base level of competency
- Meeting or exceeding expectations
- An exceptional strength
1. Transparency: Our CEO is genuine and forthcoming with all information significant to the success of the business. Bad news is delivered as is and not sugar coated. Good news is not exaggerated. Facts are presented dispassionately for what they are. Our CEO shares more key metrics and data trend lines than anecdotal stories. Board members are provided with the timely and accurate information they need to asset the business and help the CEO make informed and balanced decisions.
2. Leadership: Our CEO is trusted by the team and other stakeholders to make the informed and necessary decisions required to keep the company moving forward. Staff members know what is required of them at all times and how their efforts and performance metrics contribute to overall company goals and objectives. Our CEO is demanding but fair. Team members, investors and advisors feel listened to and that their opinions and ideas are heard and help to shape our CEO’s final decisions and policies. Team members trust their CEO to do what he or she says. Our CEO respects the chain of command and does not circumvent his or her managers. Our CEO is building a positive company culture that people want to be a part of. Our CEO is always bringing organization to chaos as our venture grows.
3. Communication: Our CEO can articulate the company’s mission, differentiations, and value props to all stakeholders and potential shareholders including employees, customers, prospects and investors. Our CEO’s communication is clear, concise and convincing. Our CEO can see things from an audience’s perspective and handles objections in a non-offensive manner. Our CEO can speak in terms of value propositions that are relevant to his or her audience. Our CEO can walk a person logically from where they are (point A) to point B when explaining complex matters.
4. Management: Our CEO is a good manager. Team members know what is expected of them, how they are doing and how they are evaluated. Direct reports are never surprised when promoted or fired. Objectives are clearly defined as are job descriptions, best practices and procedures. Direct reports feel confident that their CEO is striving for their individual success as well as company success. Our CEO meets regularly with the management team as a group and each direct report individually to review progress, lend assistance and address concerns. Our CEO does not have excessive employee turnover. Our CEO is a good trainer who takes the time required with new team members to make sure they can do all aspects of their jobs. Our CEO holds direct reports accountable and will decisively terminate consistently poor performers.
5. Judgement: Our CEO demonstrates good judgement. Our CEO is calculating and practical gathering all of the information and opinions available before making important decisions. Our CEO does not make rash uninformed decisions or chase every shiny object. Our CEO will take calculated risk using appropriate risk/reward analysis. Our CEO always has a contingency plan in mind. Our CEO sets reasonable timelines and goals. Our CEO is data driven and not afraid to pivot when necessary. Our CEO is thoughtful and dispassionate in decision making testing hypotheses and tactics before committing major resources or time to projects.
6. Time Management: Our CEO manages his or her time wisely and efficiently. Daily tasks and projects get appropriate amounts of time based on their importance. Our CEO projects a consistent and contagious sense of urgency. Our CEO does not waste time but treats it as his or her most precious resource. Our CEO alots his or her time in a manner always mindful of the opportunity costs that may be involved. Our CEO is not a perfectionist and knows when 80% is good enough. Our CEO does not avoid or short-change tasks that he or she doesn’t like to do. Our CEO keeps a written personal task list and is constantly reprioritizing it. Our CEO knows when to go slow and when to go fast.
7. Fundraising: Our CEO ensures that our company does not run out of money and stays well ahead of any cash shortfalls in full realization of the time it can take to raise capital. Our CEO is the chief fundraiser for the company and always mindful of our runway, burn and cash-out date. Our CEO keeps investors and prospective investors informed. Our CEO understands which types of investors and fund managers are a good fit for our company based on their check size, investment thesis, expertise and geographic preferences. Our CEO maintains and can defend a reasonable forecast and key assumptions. Our CEO can deliver a convincing investor pitch deck and plan. Our CEO inspires confidence.
8. Recruiting: Our CEO is good at sourcing and recruiting the talent needed to grow our company. Our CEO makes recruiting a regular priority each week and does not wait until the company is desperate for help before starting the recruiting process. Our CEO conducts detailed interviews and reference checking. Our CEO can communicate a vibrant company vision and culture where new hires want to work. Our CEO is not afraid to hire those more talented than himself or herself in any given area.
9. Strategist: Our CEO possesses a deep understanding of our chosen industry and market sector. Our CEO has a full appreciation of the subtleties of our space, competitors and how to position our solution to fit into each customer type and business partner’s perspective. Our CEO knows when to partner, when to buy and when to compete head on. Our CEO is always looking for business development opportunities and partnerships leveraging the technology, customer base or salesforce of others.
10. Negotiating: Our CEO understands and utilizes basic negotiating techniques. Our CEO is not afraid to push back on or walk away from a one-sided deal. Our CEO takes the time to understand another’s position, constraints and goals so that he or she can propose creative solutions. Our CEO rarely pays full price. Our CEO is always willing to lose a battle if it means winning a war.
11. Maturity: Our CEO is always the adult in the room. Our CEO is not intimidated by those with skills and ideas that are not his or her own. Our CEO is assertive but not overbearing. Our CEO is comfortable admitting when he or she has made a mistake. Our CEO takes into account the human element and emotions in every situation. Our CEO is always professional. Once a decision has been made our CEO expects full compliance and will not tolerate insubordination in any form. Our CEO is not given to emotional outbursts or knee-jerk reactions. Our CEO cares about more than just the success of the business. Our CEO encourages the team to take risks and try things. Our CEO does not penalize team members who try creative things that don’t end up working out.
12. Resourcefulness: Our CEO seeks out and utilizes available resources. From advisors, key customers, grants, publications and reports to competitive sales collateral and market analysis, our CEO stays abreast of that which might be useful in accomplishing the mission at hand. Our CEO is coachable. Before starting a new initiative or implementing a key strategy, our CEO taps available contributors and data. Our CEO avoids an echo chamber and solicits outside opinions. Our CEO does not shoot from the hip, make decisions in a vacuum or simply buy his or her way out of a problem or into a quick solution.
13. Financial Management: Our CEO has a complete understanding of the business model and which assumptions and key metric as most important to the business. Our CEO can spot trend lines and how they impact the business. Our CEO is constantly discussing key assumptions with those involved and tweaking them to produce the most accurate forecast possible. Our CEO understands the impact of debt and increasing the burn rate and never waits too long to right-size the business. Our CEO knows when to grow faster and when to slow down and proceed more cautiously. Our forecast is continuously becoming more accurate.
14. Administrative: Our CEO consistently ensures that required administrative tasks such as submitting monthly financial statements and updated forecasts are submitted to board members. Our CEO fulfills written and legal obligations to maintain D&O and key-man insurance. Our CEO schedules and conducts all board meetings and annual shareholder’s meetings on the required cadence. Our CEO schedules required meetings well in advance and sends board decks, option grant proposals, legal and other documents for board member review well in advance of board meetings.
For future posts, please follow George on Twitter at @georgedeeb and follow David at @StartUpHats.