Startup CEO, 2nd Edition

Startup CEO, 2nd Edition

by Matt Blumberg
Released August 2020
Publisher(s): Wiley
ISBN: 9781119723660

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Book description

You’re only a startup CEO once. Do it well with Startup CEO, a "master class in building a business."
—Dick Costolo, Former CEO, Twitter

Being a startup CEO is a job like no other: it’s difficult, risky, stressful, lonely, and often learned through trial and error.  As a startup CEO seeing things for the first time, you’re likely to make mistakes, fail, get things wrong, and feel like you don’t have any control over outcomes.

Author Matt Blumberg has been there, and in Startup CEO he shares his experience, mistakes, and lessons learned as he guided Return Path from a handful of employees and no revenues to over $100 million in revenues and 500 employees.

Startup CEO is not a memoir of Return Path's 20-year journey but a thoughtful CEO-focused book that provides first-time CEOs with advice, tools, and approaches for the situations that startup CEOs will face.

You'll learn:

  • How to tell your story to new hires, investors, and customers for greater alignment
  • How to create a values-based culture for speed and engagement
  • How to create business and personal operating systems so that you can balance your life and grow your company at the same time
  • How to develop, lead, and leverage your board of directors for greater impact
  • How to ensure that your company is bought, not sold, when you exit

Startup CEO is the field guide every CEO needs throughout the growth of their company.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Foreword
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. About the Author
  5. Introduction
  6. Chapter 1: The Importance of Authentic Leadership in Changing Times
    1. What Is Authentic Leadership?
  7. Part One: Storytelling
    1. Chapter 2: Dream the Possible Dream
      1. Entrepreneurship and Creativity
      2. “A Faster Horse”
      3. Vetting Ideas
    2. Chapter 3: Defining and Testing the Story
      1. Start Out by Admitting You're Wrong
      2. A Lean Business Plan Template
    3. Chapter 4: Telling the Story to Your Investors
      1. The Business Plan Is Dead – Long Live the Business Plan
      2. The Investor Presentation
      3. Investor Presentations for Larger Startups
    4. Chapter 5: Telling the Story to Your Team
      1. Defining Your Mission, Vision, and Values
      2. The Top‐Down Approach
      3. The Bottom‐Up Approach
      4. The Hybrid Approach
      5. Design a Lofty Mission Statement
    5. Chapter 6: Revising the Story
      1. Workshopping
      2. Knowing When It's Time to Make a Change
      3. Corporate Pivots: Telling the Story Differently
      4. Business Pivots: Telling a Different Story
    6. Chapter 7: Bringing the Story to Life
      1. Building Your Company Purposefully
      2. The Critical Elements of Company Building
      3. Articulating Purpose: The Moral of the Story
      4. You Can Be a Force for Helping Others – Even If Indirectly
  8. Part Two: Building the Company's Human Capital
    1. Chapter 8: Fielding a Great Team
      1. From Protozoa to Pancreas
      2. The Best and the Brightest
      3. What about HR?
      4. What About Sales and Marketing?
      5. Scaling Your Team Over Time
    2. Chapter 9: The CEO as Functional Supervisor
      1. Rules for General Managers
    3. Chapter 10: Crafting Your Company's Culture
      1. Introducing Fig Wasp 879
      2. Six Legs and a Pair of Wings
      3. Let People Be People
      4. Build an Environment of Trust
    4. Chapter 11: The Hiring Challenge
      1. Unique Challenges for Startups
      2. Recruiting Outstanding Talent
      3. The Interview: Filtering Potential Candidates
      4. Onboarding: The First 90 Days
    5. Chapter 12: Every Day in Every Way, We Get a Little Better
      1. The Feedback Matrix
      2. Soliciting Feedback on Your Own Performance
      3. Crafting and Meeting Development Plans
    6. Chapter 13: Compensation
      1. General Guidelines for Determining Compensation
      2. The Three Elements of Startup Compensation
    7. Chapter 14: Promoting
      1. Recruiting from Within
      2. Applying the “Peter Principle” to Management
      3. Scaling Horizontally
      4. Promoting Responsibilities Rather than Swapping Titles
    8. Chapter 15: Rewarding: “It's the Little Things” That Matter
      1. It Never Goes without Saying
      2. Building a Culture of Appreciation
    9. Chapter 16: Managing Remote Offices and Employees
      1. Brick‐and‐Mortar Values in a Virtual World
      2. Best Practices for Managing Remote Employees
    10. Chapter 17: Firing: When It's Not Working
      1. No One Should Ever Be Surprised to Be Fired
      2. Layoffs
  9. Part Three: Execution
    1. Chapter 18: Creating a Company Operating System
      1. Creating Company Rhythms
      2. A Marathon, or a Sprint?
    2. Chapter 19: Creating Your Operating Plan and Setting Goals
      1. Turning Strategic Plans into Operating Plans
      2. Financial Planning
      3. Bringing Your Team into Alignment with Your Plans
      4. Guidelines for Setting Goals
    3. Chapter 20: Making Sure There's Enough Money in the Bank
      1. Scaling Your Financial Instincts
      2. Boiling the Frog
      3. To Grow or to Profit? That Is the Question
    4. Chapter 21: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Financing
      1. Equity Investors
      2. Debt
      3. Bootstrapping
    5. Chapter 22: When and How to Raise Money
      1. When to Start Looking for VC Money
      2. The Top 11 Takeaways for Financing Negotiations
    6. Chapter 23: Forecasting and Budgeting
      1. Rigorous Financial Modeling
      2. Of Course You're Wrong – But Wrong How?
      3. Budgeting in a Context of Uncertainty
      4. Forecast, Early and Often
    7. Chapter 24: Collecting Data
      1. External Data
      2. Internal Data
    8. Chapter 25: Managing in Tough Times
      1. Managing in an Economic Downturn
      2. Managing in a Difficult Business Situation
    9. Chapter 26: Meeting Routines
      1. Lencioni’s Meeting Framework
      2. Skip‐Level Meetings
      3. Running a Productive Offsite
    10. Chapter 27: Driving Alignment
      1. Five Keys to Startup Alignment
      2. Aligning Individual Incentives with Global Goals
    11. Chapter 28: Have You Learned Your Lesson?
      1. The Value (and Limitations) of Benchmarking
      2. The Art of the Postmortem
    12. Chapter 29: Going Global
      1. Should Your Business Go Global?
      2. How to Establish a Global Presence
      3. Overcoming the Challenges of Going Global
      4. Best Practices for Managing International Offices and Employees
    13. Chapter 30: The Role of M&A
      1. Using Acquisitions as a Tool in Your Strategic Arsenal
      2. The Mechanics of Financing and Closing Acquisitions
      3. The Flipside of M&A: Divestiture
      4. Odds and Ends
      5. Integration (and Separation)
    14. Chapter 31: Competition
      1. Playing Hardball
      2. Playing Offense versus Playing Defense
      3. Good and Bad Competitors
    15. Chapter 32: Failure
      1. Failure and the Startup Model
      2. Failure Is Not an Orphan
  10. Part Four: Building and Leading a Board of Directors
    1. Chapter 33: The Value of a Good Board
      1. Why Have a Board?
    2. Chapter 34: Building Your Board
      1. What Makes a Great Board Member?
      2. Recruiting a Board Member
      3. Compensating Your Board
      4. Boards as Teams
      5. Structuring Your Board
      6. Running a Board Feedback Process
      7. Building an Advisory Board
    3. Chapter 35: Board Meeting Materials
      1. The Board Book
      2. The Value of Preparing for Board Meetings
    4. Chapter 36: Running Effective Board Meetings
      1. Scheduling Board Meetings
      2. Building a Forward‐Looking Agenda
      3. In‐Meeting Materials
      4. Protocol
      5. Executive and Closed Sessions
    5. Chapter 37: Non–Board Meeting Time
      1. Ad Hoc Meetings
      2. Pre‐meetings
      3. Social Outings
    6. Chapter 38: Decision Making and the Board
      1. The Buck Stops – Where?
      2. Making Difficult Decisions in Concert
      3. Managing Conflict with Your Board
    7. Chapter 39: Working with the Board on Your Compensation and Review
      1. The CEO's Performance Review
      2. Your Compensation
      3. Expenses
    8. Chapter 40: Serving on Other Boards
      1. The Basics of Serving on Other Boards
      2. Substance or Style?
  11. Part Five: Managing Yourself So You Can Manage Others
    1. Chapter 41: Creating a Personal Operating System
      1. Managing Your Agenda
      2. Managing Your Calendar
      3. Managing Your Time
      4. Feedback Loops
    2. Chapter 42: Working with an Executive Assistant
      1. Finding an Executive Assistant
      2. What an Executive Assistant Does
    3. Chapter 43: Working with a Coach
      1. The Value of Executive Coaches
      2. Areas Where an Executive Coach Can Help
    4. Chapter 44: The Importance of Peer Groups
      1. The Gang of Six
      2. Problem Solving in Tandem
    5. Chapter 45: Staying Fresh
      1. Managing the Highs and Lows
      2. Staying Mentally Fresh
      3. Staying Healthy
      4. Me Time
    6. Chapter 46: Your Family
      1. Making Room for Home Life
      2. Involving Family in Work
      3. Bringing Work Principles Home
    7. Chapter 47: Traveling
      1. Sealing the Deal with a Handshake
      2. Making the Most of Travel Time
      3. Staying Disciplined on the Road
    8. Chapter 48: Taking Stock of the Year
      1. Celebrating “Yes”; Addressing “No”
      2. Are You Having Fun?
      3. Are You Learning and Growing as a Professional?
      4. Is It Financially Rewarding?
      5. Are You Making an Impact?
  12. Part Six: Selling Your Company
    1. Chapter 49: A Note on Exits
    2. Chapter 50: Preparing Yourself for an Exit
      1. How Do You Know It's Time to Sell?
      2. Mental Preparation
      3. Brace for Impact
    3. Chapter 51: Preparing Your Company for an Exit
      1. Private Discussions versus Public Discussions
      2. Due Diligence and Disclosure Schedules
    4. Chapter 52: The Sale Process
      1. The Arcs of a Deal
      2. Principals versus Outside Advisers
      3. Optimizing for Different Stakeholders
    5. Chapter 53: Transition and Integration
      1. The Most Important Thing
      2. The All‐Hands
      3. Passing the Baton
      4. Integration
    6. Chapter 54: Thinking about Your Next Step
      1. Downshift and Take Time Off
      2. Sharpen the Saw
      3. Telling Your Story, and the Ultimate Postmortem
      4. Next!
  13. Conclusion
  14. Bibliography
  15. What's Next?
  16. Index
  17. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Startup CEO, 2nd Edition
  • Author(s): Matt Blumberg
  • Release date: August 2020
  • Publisher(s): Wiley
  • ISBN: 9781119723660