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  • First-Time CEO? Here’s How You Can Manage Your Stakeholders

    First-Time CEO? Here’s How You Can Manage Your Stakeholders

    · The Startup CEO

    A startup CEO must juggle many responsibilities, including managing stakeholders and defining organizational structure. In this episode of The Startup CEO series, host Luke Fox discussed these topics with Jef Graham, a four-time startup CEO.

    Graham first noted who the stakeholders are, outside of employees. “We’re talking about different entities that have an interest in the success of the company—investor partners, board members, customers, channel partners, and others.”

    Graham’s advice on investors included working with a top venture capitalist (VC) firm. “Subsequent fundraising will be easier with a well-known VC. Also, don’t fixate on valuation. Terms are more important.”

    Graham also spoke about board members and meetings. “Plan for six meetings a year and use them to discuss milestones. You, as the CEO, can create the agenda but get agreement from all members.”

    Graham also advised CEOS to be honest, disclose bad news, and be optimistic. “You keep your job by beating numbers and goals and keeping the board’s confidence, so avoid surprises.”

    Regarding customers and channel partners, Graham noted that CEOs should develop trusted relationships and check in with them quarterly.

    On organizational structures, Graham said, “You’re starting with engineers. Then hire admin help but outsource everything else. Only when you prove the concept and start selling should you begin to build out the structure.”

    Additionally, in cultivating a team, Graham recommended having clear job responsibilities. “These are often vague. Define who owns what, as you’re the orchestrator of the team.”

  • The Key for Startups: Make No Small Plans

    The Key for Startups: Make No Small Plans

    · The Startup CEO

    Graham began the chat with some quotes that are relevant, including making no small plans and to measure is to know. So, what are the metrics that matter the most? “Tech startups are all about invention and growth, so the top-line measure is the growth of customers and report orders,” he said.

    Graham further noted that “cash is king in startup”; thus, the CEO must watch to ensure they don’t run out of it.

    Knowing the numbers and the data are critical for CEO startups. “Facts always beat opinions. The demonstration of that is that CEOs should always have certain numbers at their fingertips—sales, cash raised, valuations, people, and data on your customers and market.” Graham shared.

    Relating to the world of metrics is the management cycle. Graham described it as “a series of processes that form rhythmic patterns at annual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly intervals.” He then explained the different planning cycles for each. Annually, there are financial planning goals, long-term strategy, and salary and reviews. Monthly is forecasting orders and expenses.

    The management cycle includes objective setting. “Set quarterly objectives. Measure results, not actions. Objectives shouldn’t be a job responsibly list but be tangible goals. Focus on five to 10 and ask yourself, ‘If I achieve these goals, would this be success?’ The answer should be yes,” Graham said.

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  • What It Takes to Be a Successful Leader

    What It Takes to Be a Successful Leader

    · The Startup CEO

    Being a CEO requires personal leadership and people management. That’s the focus of the second in a series of podcasts, The Startup CEO, hosted by Luke Fox, Founder and CEO of Whitefox. Fox welcomed back Jef Graham, a veteran of Silicon Valley startups, holding the role of CEO four times. He currently serves as a board member at NETGEAR.

    Graham began by talking about leadership characteristics. “Determination, persistence, ambition, self-confidence, energy, charisma, and articulate are common. I didn’t say intelligence, skills, or abilities, but those help. A track record of success is great and a little bit of luck.”

    Graham said trust is the most important part of leadership. “Trust is a result, not a behavior. The behaviors to earn are being open and honest, sharing information, and having two-way communication. If people trust and believe in you, they’ll follow you.”

    Graham also championed mutual respect and consistency. When leaders are striving to better themselves, he noted, “Be willing to be coached because that’s how we improve.”

    Being transparent with teams is critical as well. “People should know how you are, and you should understand them, too. Your job as a CEO is to motivate, inspire, and lead every day,” Graham said. 

    Graham provided some insights on managing, hiring, and recruiting. He urged CEOs to have a company-wide paygrade structure and review process because the best people are always being targeted.

    On hiring, Graham called it an inefficient process but a necessary one that should include multiple interviewers, a space of respect, and getting to know candidates. “Only hire people you like,” he advised. 

    Firing is also part of being a leader, and Graham said it should be hard to do because it shows empathy. “At the moment, you know someone needs to go, do it ASAP. Otherwise, it can destroy organizations and cause you to lose your high performers.”

  • The Startup CEO: A New Business Leadership Podcast

    The Startup CEO: A New Business Leadership Podcast

    · The Startup CEO

    In this new podcast series, The Startup CEO, experts and visionaries deliver insights and practical advice for first-time CEOs of venture-backed start-ups. The first conversation is about the product with Luke Fox, Founder and CEO of WhiteFox, and Jef Graham, a veteran of Silicon Valley start-ups, holding the role of CEO four times.

    So, what are the core product challenges for a start-up? Graham said, “Most start-ups begin building a product without fully thinking through who is their specific target.”

    Without understanding unique user needs, it’s hard to launch a product to an audience without knowing what they want. Graham noted this is further complicated by hiring sales teams too early. “My advice is don’t rush to action before getting your research and planning done.”

    It’s all about translating the product vision into what customers need, then scaling that across the market for mainstream adoption.

    Graham cautions that technical leaders often think the product will sell itself because they know all the features buyers want. “Most start-up concepts now are software, not hardware. It’s critical to understand the customer problems you’re trying to solve.”

    How can start-up CEOs avoid mistakes in product? Graham explained, “Keep each product release very focused on key functions. The most important thing is defining the fundamental value proposition of the product.”

    Graham discussed the concept of FAB: Features, Advantages, and Benefits and how to navigate it in product development. Graham suggested hiring product managers early to roadmap this.

    Graham also shared recommendations on protecting the market, go-to-market models, and what markets to focus on for start-ups.