
Ask HN: How to decide who should be CEO? - ryanmccullagh
If you have a 2 person startup, how do you decide who is CEO?
======
csa
In broad terms, the CEO typically does fundraising and marketing.
Realistically, both people will be working on many aspects of the business --
it's not always prudent to silo duties early in a business.

Based on other replies, equity and control may be issues that concern you.
Spolsky's post on this matter is widely cited as a response to this question.
There are also quite a few posts that dispute his thesis. These are relatively
easy to google. This is one example:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2493356](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2493356)

Here is a list:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4941933](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4941933)

Note that there can be issues that 50/50 doesn't appear cover cleanly --
supplying cash, full time versus part time, building, selling,
contacts/network, etc.

Some would say that all of these other things, if they lead to something other
than 50/50, may suggest the business is doomed from the start. While I will
remain neutral on that question in this reply, it's certainly a good thought
exercise.

Most of all, I wonder if you would choose to marry your potential cofounder.
If your response is not "hell yeah!", you may want to reconsider. You will
effectively be married to this person for quite a while, and any weaknesses in
your relationship will be amplified.

Best of luck!

(Edit: answered the original question)

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alain94040
The CEO should be the one who is pushing the other. The one who goes the extra
mile to do all the millions of little, insignificant things that a startup
requires.

source: long experience with co-founder teams

------
hoodoof
If the two of you cannot easily answer this question then your journey is
going to be a troubled one.

~~~
Lordarminius
>If the two of you cannot easily answer this question then your journey is
going to be a troubled one.

I came here to say the same thing.

But then again I want to give you the benefit of doubt and assume you're two
wet-behind-the-ears teenage kids in a garage building the next MSFT :)

Toss a coin. Whoever wins is CEO for 3 years then the next person can take
over.

~~~
ryanmccullagh
What if I'm the one with the technical skills, and the other founder is not?

~~~
Lordarminius
Then let him be the CEO while you be the CTO. That defers the issue for 3-5
years. I am assuming of course that he is qualified to run a(the) company.

~~~
ryanmccullagh
Titles aren't the most important thing to me in the beginning, but I'm more
concerned about control. Since I'll be building the entire product, I feel
that I should have a larger equity stake. Do you agree?

~~~
Lordarminius
No.

You should split the equity in proportion to your individual contributions to
the company.

Your your partner brings something to the table which you do not possess (the
ideal situation) then he should be compensated accordingly. You should weigh
your perceptions against his expectations and arrive at compromise that is
acceptable to both parties.

If you can build the product and guide it to a successful launch (
irrespective of who conceived the idea), you should do so without him because
strictly speaking you do not need him. There is no place for an "idea guy" in
a startup

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ohstopitu
I don't have an answer to the question...but a follow up question.

If you are a 1 person startup (and don't want to be a CEO), how would you
decide on the CEO as and when that may be? (say you decide you want to be a
CTO / COO)

~~~
Lordarminius
> If you are a 1 person startup (and don't want to be a CEO)...

If you are reluctant to do any job required in your startup, the viability of
said startup is in question.

You could always ask your dad or uncle or whomever to fill the role for you.
But beware - large oaks grow from small acorns and ceding control/ shirking
responsibility at such an early stage can have negative consequences down thre
road; one of which may be a lack of familiarity with how your business truly
operates. When your little hustle is ready to become a pre-IPO giant, what
then?

~~~
ohstopitu
I didn't mean I didn't want to do any job required for my startup, it's just
that I enjoyed coding more than I enjoyed the rest of the stuff (which I
always looked at as more of the CEO's responsibility)

