"What's your day like?" "What do you do everyday?" "What's your job exactly, as startup CEO?" - These are questions I was frequently asked this year by both our new hires, startup founders I had the privilege to mentor through various programs, and during interviews.
If I was asked this question a couple years ago, my answer would definitely be "everything" - same as any early stage startup CEO. But as of 2021, our team at Arincare almost doubled in size, now serving 2,500+ users, and growing 3X revenue, to get there my job has changed a lot. So I think it's good to stop and give it some thoughts about my role and responsibilities as CEO and how it has evolved over the year - all in a deck. Hope it can benefit a larger audience, or at least I can use it to give a clearer answer to our new hires. :)
3. Performance evaluation
Sustainable growth of the company is based on 4 pillars
1 Continuous value delivery to customers
3 Financial safety
4 Nurturing the right culture
2 Grow business through sustainable models
4. Continuous value delivery to customers
Building the right thing at the right time
What I do Examples
• Market & industry analysis
• User research
• Product management
• Monitoring customer feedback
• Monitoring customer service calls
and customer feedback
• Participate in feature development,
product review.
• Assist product team in prioritizing
what to do and what not
• Develop the right partnership
with other industry stakeholders
5. Grow business through sustainable models
Making business decisions based on long term sustainability
What I do Examples
• Research, experiment, various
business models
• Allocate optimal resource to
maximize results
• Providing insights for long term
sustainability
• Assisting team in making
business decisions
• Do research to explore new business
models and industry trends
• Choose what to do and what not to do
with company s long term best interest
• Prioritize projects and resources to maximize
short term and long term results
• Help team leads develop execution plan
to meet quarterly objectives
6. Financial Safety
Making sure business is well capitalized
What I do Examples
• Keep existing investors informed
and up to date
• Monitoring cash
fl
ows
• Fundraising at the best condition
of the company
• Monthly board of director meeting
• Quarterly investor update
• Regular check-in with CFO on company
cash level
• Keep track of investment projects
7. Nurturing the right culture
Making sure that company culture is grown in the right direction
What I do Examples
• Interview candidates
• Invest in team leads
• Sharing our values
and mission. Making sure
everyone understand
• Set up time for candidate interviews
every week
• Regular 1-1 meeting to check
on team alignment
• Evaluate behaviors and how we
respond to events to make sure
it
fi
ts well with our values
8. Time Allocation
My time allocation is based on the di
ff
erent hats I wear
1 Product owner
4 Front man
5 The buck stops here
3 Internal communication
2 Salesperson
9. Product owner
When someone has to represent the customer on our team
What I do Examples Time Allocation
• Give my input in product decision
• Assist in UX/UI design
• Attend feature design meeting as
user / customer
• Give input to our operation based on
customer and value point of view
• Play devil s advocate to our decision
based on customer s best interest
• Test features
• Attend daily development team stand up
meeting
10%
10%
30%
20%
30%
10. Salesperson
When the company needs to close deals
What I do Examples Time Allocation
• Help our team make sales
and close deals
• Sell our vision to potential
investors and partners
• Attend meetings with customers
with our sales team, as sales support
• Meet with existing and potential
partners for collaboration projects
• Pitch ideas and company visions to
our team, partners, and
potential candidates
5%
5%
40%
20%
30%
11. Internal communication
When information needs to
fl
ow to all teams
What I do Examples Time Allocation
• Individual communication
• Team communication
• Company wide communications
• Monthly town hall meeting
• Daily morning stand-up meeting
• Daily evening wrap-up meeting
• Help resolve friction between teams
• Communicate changes in project scope
and directions
• Change in team or individual s roles
• Make sure everyone is on the same page
on operation and company
fi
nancial
status
5%
5%
40%
20%
30%
12. Front man
When people want to talk to the CEO
What I do Examples Time Allocation
• PR, events, interviews
• Customer service
• Interview with TNN
• Meet with Depa
• Meet and greet with customers
attending our events
• Talk to customers and take
feedback
5%
5%
40%
20%
30%
13. The buck stops here
When someone has to make a hard decision
What I do Examples Time Allocation
• Crisis management
• Strategic operations that need
top view input
• Help out where we re short
on resources
• Decision whether we d kill a project
• When crisis hits, if any
• Decision where code of ethics is involved
• When a team member exhibits behaviors that
don t align with our values and culture
5%
5%
40%
20%
30%
14. Appendix
Time allocation has evolved over the year as needed
5%
5%
40%
20%
30%
5%
5%
5%
15%
70%
5%
5%
5%
35%
50%
Year: 0 - 1 Year: 2-4 Year: 4 - Present
I did coding for the entire
fi
rst
version of product
and 70% of the next
Spent most time with customers
, partners, and sales process.
The rest on coding.
No time to code, help out on design and
review. Spend most time making sure everyone
on the team are set up for success.
15. Appendix
I also help out with the rest of the stu
ff
where there s need
Marketing
BD
New project
Social media, PR, design, marketing campaigns, events
Our business development team reports directly to me
We always experiment with stu
ff
s, so make sense for me to
look after these projects closely and get my hands dirty with details
