Any words of wisdom on hiring an outside C.E.O? Cautionary tales?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=54048

by msallin • 19 years ago

5 7 19 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Goladus• 19 years ago

I don't have any personal experience, but here's an article that's been posted here before:

The Pmarca Guide to Startups, part 9: How to hire a professional CEO

http://blog.pmarca.com/2007/08/the-pmarca-gu-1.html

davidw2• 19 years ago

Cautionary tale: Fernand Serrat.

msallin• 19 years ago

Hm, been googling him but not much comes up besides mentions that he was lousy and made a surprise resignation at Linuxcare...

davidw2• 19 years ago

Oops, spelled it wrong: Fernand Sarrat. Try googling with words such as 'lawsuit', and 'sexual harassment'. Also look around for 'Doug Nassaur' (not the object of Sarrat's affections, but hired by him).

nivi• 19 years ago

Take your time.

Understand the new CEO's motivations.

Create a new board seat for the CEO: http://www.venturehacks.com/articles/ceo-board-seat

Bring him on board as an Advisor or Director first and see how that works out.

aswanson• 19 years ago

The Jim Cramer book (of all books) Confessions of a Street Addict chronicles his hiring and firing of a few clueless/alcoholic CEOs when he started his web venture.

epi0Bauqu• 19 years ago

Why are you hiring an outside CEO? (Note: I'm not trying to second guess you. I just think your story might be valuable to people on this forum.)

Any words of wisdom on hiring an outside C.E.O? Cautionary tales?

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