
Ask HN: How Do I Thrive Working with a “Hands-On” Founder? - Chikodi
I just started work as interim CMO on very exciting new marketplace project. The founder and I get along great. He has no ego, 20 years of domain experience, and works with a small team that has been by his side for more than a decade. He defies all the stereotypes, except one--he&#x27;s extremely hands-on. Too much so.<p>While the founder isn&#x27;t your &quot;typical&quot; control freak, or a micromanager, per se, but he wants to do everything himself.<p>It&#x27;s been great in many ways. Today I refreshed my knowledge of PPC ad buying as we reviewed our paused campaign with another consultant. Last week we set up our CRM from scratch. I know I&#x27;m adding tremendous value, and I feel appreciated every day.<p>While today was great, we also spent the better part of an hour fine-tuning a single email to cold leads. And on today&#x27;s PPC call, our founder went down the rabbit hole trying to tweak the copy in a single Google ad. Successful campaigns run and optimize dozens or hundreds of variations.<p>I admire and appreciate our CEOs commitment to getting things right. He&#x27;s excited to learn, and I&#x27;m learning along with him. I am also afraid his time and my own aren&#x27;t being put to their best use. Tasks take 5x longer than they otherwise might.<p>I&#x27;ve worked with many (many) startups where VC&#x27;s set unhealthy growth targets, and everyone runs themselves into the ground. Now we&#x27;re self-funded, and time pressure seems to be a thing of the past. After building the platform for the past three years, we signed up our first user this week.<p>No one is cracking the whip, and I admire and vibe with our CEO. I also notice myself getting impatient with the glacial pace.<p>Am I crazy to look sideways at such a chill situation? How can I guide our hands-on CEO to move little faster, or let go of individual tasks sooner?<p>If you have strategies to make this partnership thrive, I&#x27;d love to hear your best tips.
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davismwfl
You say you just started, so I will assume you mean < 30 days or so on the
job. If I was your CEO I'd be watching things really close till you built up
some more trust with me too. Not that I'd distrust you, and I'd want you to
have some autonomy early, but not without me being in the loop overall. A
mistake around some of this could be super costly to the business too, so if
he stays involved for a time period it won't all fall on you.

As you prove yourself, after say 60-90 days (depending on your experience
level could be longer) then if he stays this involved and over analyzing
things then it is more a time to chat with him about how to pick up the speed
and have him back out some. But till that, you are new, take this time to
learn what he likes and what he dislikes before it is all on you.

With experience also comes an understanding that setting unrealistic paces and
trying to push hard just usually leads to more mistakes being made. That
doesn't mean the pace should be glacial, but just that more thought out and
deliberate decisions means the pace doesn't need to be frantic. So I'd step
back and appreciate that as well a little. Also, when self funded, it is more
important to be deliberate and focused than it is when you have backing from a
VC. Not that you should waste VC dollars, but there is an expectation of
growth that is much different so running more tests and doing things faster is
more critical. Self funded it is more important to focus on getting a return
than racing to your next round and trying to learn as much as possible.

