23 Does a startup need both a CEO and COO?
- CEO vs COO—do you know the difference?
- Can you find a COO with complimentary skills to the CEO to balance the latter's strengths?
- Co-CEOs or solo CEO+COO? Which leadership model will go the distance?
There are three anecdotes in this book about specific titles that are not CEO. The titles that deserve their own anecdote are COO, CMO and head of sales. Why them and not others? Because these three have either controversy, or special circumstances, or both surrounding them. The COO—subject of this anecdote—is controversial because it is rare for startups, or because sometimes it’s used to avoid having co-CEOs. The CMO (discussed in anecdote 24, “Marketing—too often a startup’s after thought”) is controversial first because a lot of startups wait way too long to build enough of a marketing team and second, many startup CEOs do not fully understand the CMO role, and neither do other C-suite people, resulting in short tenures for CMOs. The head of sales (sometimes is called CRO and discussed in anecdote 25, “The right character for sales leader—and when to hire them”) is only controversial when hired too early. Sales leaders are definitely a different breed from other C-level executives and need to be treated differently.