Yesterday, I completely forgot to mention the second most important role of a CEO!  Let’s recap:

#1: Provide the team with the necessary resources.
#2: Build shareholder value

#2 is the one I’ve known the most. Really a CEO works for the Board of Directors (who directly represent the shareholders). A CEO’s job is typically summed up in the 40,000 foot overview definition of “build shareholder value.” Meaning, always focus on increasing the valuation of a company.

This is obviously all encompassing, since everything from your team hires, technology development to revenue generation directly impact the valuation of a company.

So, there you go - that’s the best way to describe a CEO…

CEO = The head of an organization responsible for building shareholder value and facilitating all the resources necessary for the company to act on it’s business plan.

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I know I’ve been quiet as far as posting, just been working on many projects. Plus, rather than post regular random thoughts, I thought I’d write mostly USEFUL things that you can actually learn from!, so those only happen once in a while

Over the last month or so, I’ve had another epiphany where I figure out more about what a CEO’s job really is - big company or small.

Here’s how this started…

My mentor just recently accepted the CEO position at a company that is 100% out of his industry understanding - pretty amazing company though. As we were teasing him about his new position in a brand new industry (for him) he made a comment that really hit home with me, he said:

“It really doesn’t matter since the main role of a CEO is to just gather the resources so his team can do what they do best - he’s just there to make sure they have what they need.”

That one sentence probably taught me more about business than an entire semester in college and the funny thing is that he said it in passing in the lobby of our building while we were joking around…

I have thought about what he said for a while now and it makes total sense. That one statement alone also describes the major difference between a CEO and an entrepreneur. An “entrepreneur” has subject expertise so he/she works IN the industry. But a CEO is really a manager - someone who makes sure that the wheels are turning.

So go on and be the CEO, make sure everyone on your team has what they need!

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A question I asked many times a few years back but not so much lately. I always felt that it was their “ego” that was hiding their smile and playful nature. Personally, I promised myself that I would remain who I am and be everyone’s “friend” as I grew into this role.

Year 1: I kept to that commitment, being goofy, fun and everyone’s best friend was working (considering I had zero employees and vendors).

Year 2: Still kept hard to that commitment, maybe even more committed - all our partners LOVED me and worked harder for me (maybe I had about 3 employees, all great people).

Year 3: “Hmm…this person is so used to being my friend, I can’t get them to take me seriously…” or “I just got taken advantage of and swindled by that vendor.”

Fast forward to today, I see myself slowly becoming more resolved, quiet and “businessy” - you must be thinking “No! Don’t do that! You have to be yourself, don’t become one of those people…”

Honestly, I probably never will - I just don’t see it in myself. HOWEVER, with that said, I’m also seeing that the need to reflect authority, decisiveness and control are incredibly important as the team grows, business grows and more parties get involved.

The vulchers are out there and you need to let them see that you have a few fangs too in case you need to defend yourself and your company.

Bottom line is that I have realized that it’s not that the CEOs are cold and rude by nature. A CEO (at least a genuine one) has many pressures on his mind, for example, payroll. The faster you grow, the more people you have (employees and their families) relying on you for their livelihood.

Add to that hungry investors, contractors, vendors, office politics and the 800 other things that can go wrong and I wonder why the heck anyone even WANTS this job? Well, some of us crazy people get “off” on the adrenaline it creates.

It brings the question to mind: “Would you rather be loved or feared as a leader?”

My answer: I’d rather be respected for which I have to inspire love and infect just the right amount of fear.

Not trying to sound cynical, but by “infect fear” I simply mean that everyone in your company and around it HAS to know that you mean business and won’t take “crap.” You have to show action and you have to prove that you easily make tough calls - that in and of itself puts just the right amount of “fear” in people.

But, again, perhaps fear is not the right word, I think respect covers it much better.

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I’ve never been particularly a neat person - but sometimes I look at my desk and just think “things are out of control.”

I’ve visited other entrepreneurs or start-up CEOs and have seen pretty much the same exact thing - my guess? THIS is what Entrepreneur desks are like…

A) Messy
B) Messy
C) O So Messy…

But still, ask me to find anything and I’ll find it in 10 seconds (me brain knows where it is).

I also just bought a cool little gadget - a Flip Video Camera, so here’s my first shooting.

For the next 60 seconds, you’re a humble guest in what I call my office…

More where that came from later…

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I was recently nominated to join a local, fairly exclusive, “CEOs Club” where we meet once a month for dinner and have guest speakers from all around the “business building” spectrum.

Late last week was their second meeting (the first I attended) this year, I had no idea what to expect but was pleasently surprised.

The structure is that we all get there about an hour before dinner and stand around networking. After that we grab dinner and sit down to eat. As we’re eating, the guest speakers start presenting on the topic of the day - the presentations are about 1 - 1.5 hours.

The networking was obviously one of my favorite parts of the meeting - I got a chance to hear about some amazing companies and great ideas.

The actual “training” session was OK, I’d give it a 6 on a 1-10 scale, but I did learn a few things that I will blog over the next couple of days.

Here’s something I learned - Part 1 of a series I’ll do over the next few posts…

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Getting Bank Loans - Displaying TANGIBLE Value In The Intangible…

There was a veteran banker presenting and she mentioned something that I think is important for everyone to know. She said that many times banks prefer to back companies that have a lot of “physical” assets like equipment, etc…

This is because that equipment serves as “collateral” to the loan. However, this is a big issue for “internet” and many “technology” companies who’s biggest physical assets are a few computers.

In a situation like that, it truly is hard to get a bank line of credit. A tip she gave…

1. If you’re profitable - TELL THEM THAT. She said to make it very clear if you’re cash flow positive, they like that.

2. If you own “digital” assets - For example if you have a customer list, lead list, etc… These are still valuable things that the bank could sell if need be.

So if you have an internet business, don’t despair - you CAN still get a line of credit from a bank. It’ll just be harder and you’ll have to apply to more banks to find the right “understanding” banker.

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Many people really confuse these two into being the same thing. The more and more I learn about business, I’ve learned that they are actually two VERY different things. An Entrepreneur has a mind that seems to race - they are full of ideas, exuberant and a bit hard to control (of course there are exceptions).

Now, of course, by default, when an Entrepreneur starts a business, they are the CEO by default. But, what you find overtime is that many entrepreneurs are not fit at all to remain a CEO (I’ll explain why in a second). Many of these start-ups eventually go hire a “professional CEO” and the entrepreneur takes a different more targeted position (many times either technical in nature or marketing related).

Now, of course with that said, there are also many Entrepreneurs out there that have proven to be a great CEO, every day, I strive to be that Entrepreneur (and have to say that I’ve done a fairly good job at it so far).

See, a CEO is a manager. A CEO is good at building organization, structure, watching the details, the financials and keeping a “company afloat.” A CEOs entire job is to keep the company in the right line. A CEOs biggest responsibility is to build “share-holder value,” most entrepreneurs could, by nature, care one flying hoot about “shareholder value” - they just want to paint on the canvas!

The biggest difference I have personally experienced and seen between an entrepreneur and a CEO is that an entrepreneur can be FULL of ideas and always generating new ones as well. However, new ideas can give CEOs headaches (since new ideas challenge structure and organization).

Of course, again, there are many cross-overs here. Most “start-up” type CEOs can be close to an entrepreneur, but they still have a very structured way of looking at business.

It’s like someone said to recently… “Entrepreneurs are like artists…a business is their art, and we all know that most good artists don’t paint for the ’selling price’ - they paint to fulfill something inside them.”

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