the investores hired a CEO a year ago. he has no background in Product, Design or even Digital. so his desicions are based on opinion. we all agree that he is puting the whole company at risk. what should i do as product director?
Talk to the investors, however it's risky as the CEO is likely to find out
I mentioned that to my buddy, but he said that's pretty much ending his ride with that company. CEO would find out and he'd lose a lot of his initial stake since the rest of his shares wouldn't vest. I personally think they've got a really good idea, but they gotta execute and that's the issue he's dealing with right now.
Sounds like you are stuck between a rock and a hard place. See if you can take him drinking and then work your magic to convince him to do stuff differently
Like I said, not a personal situation. I work for the big boys. Startups are in my past. Fun but a total crap shot. I think I take some decent risks but yeesh, it just wasn't even fair unless you're literally a co-founder. My personal opinion is don't do startups for that chance of hitting it big.
For anyone in this situation. Take the CEO aside and express your views honestly, directly, with poise, grace, and compassion. In that conversation be a good listener and give up trying to be right. Let them know what your assessment is and what your feelings are. Don't go around them at first. If you don't succeed with this direct approach then either quit or escalate to the chairman of the board but be prepared to be let go.
This is a common situation, in startups, and not only startups. I would not try to do changes at this high level, I feel it's just a waste of time. Only after seeing some failures will the investors fire the CEO. It takes time. And it leads to lost opportunities. If you see this ship is going in the wrong direction - jump to another ship.
so sad tp leave a great product :(
Question: is he bringing in $$$$$ as revenue/ profit?
How did these CEOs get picked? What skill set did they get picked for? Asking for myself :P
My friend is dealing with the same issue, but they are a very beginning startup with a hardware/iot solution. The CEO apparently has no clue what to do, just had a good idea but hired a few folks to build it. Now he's dumping all his resources into marketing and sales and neglecting the actual product/dev teams. It's weird. Don't know how it'll turn out positive on this track.
same here. oh boy.
@LVRr10 Where does your friend work?