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The Great CEO Within - Comprehensive Bullet Points

This is a summary of the awesome book The Great CEO Within by Matt Mochary. You can read it for free in this Google Doc, however I highly recommend purchasing the book from Amazon too!

Part I – The Beginning

Chapter 1: Getting Started

Chapter 2: The Team

  • Co-Founders:
    • Avoid solo founding if possible (burnout risk).
    • Seek complementary skills; share emotional load.
    • Don’t do 50/50 splits (deadlock issues).
  • Team Size Pre-PMF:
    • Keep under ~6 people until real PMF (> $1M ARR for B2B).
    • More people → complexity → morale + communication problems.
  • Product-Market Fit (PMF):
    • Look for real usage, renewals, NPS, etc.—not just test budgets.
  • Scaling:
    • Scale aggressively only after proven PMF.
    • Formal management system needed ~15–20 employees.

Part II – Individual Habits

Chapter 3: Getting Things Done (GTD)

  • Process all inboxes daily. If <2 mins, do it now; else capture in Next Actions.
  • GTD Lists:
    • Next Actions, Waiting For, Someday/Maybe, Agenda, Projects, Review, Goals.
    • Review daily or weekly depending on the list.
  • Use a suitable tool (Omnifocus, Evernote, etc.) for tracking.

Chapter 4: Inbox Zero

Chapter 5: Top Goal

  • Block 2 hours daily for your #1 priority, ideally early morning.
  • No interruptions—email/Slack off. Start with 30 mins if 2 hrs is tough.

Chapter 6: On Time and Present

  • Never be late without warning. Respect others’ time.
  • Leave 5–10 mins buffer between meetings to reset and prepare.
  • Stay off devices in meetings for full focus.

Chapter 7: When You Say It Twice, Write It Down

  • If you repeat the same information, document it—save future time.
  • Put repeated instructions/FAQs in a wiki or shared doc.

Chapter 8: Gratitude and Appreciation

  • Ask “What am I grateful for?” daily (5 specific items).
  • Openly appreciate colleagues—be specific with thanks.

Chapter 9: Energy Audit and Zone of Genius

  • Energy Audit:
    • Mark last week’s calendar green (energising) or red (draining).
    • Aim for 75% green tasks—delegate the rest.
  • Zone of Genius:
    • Spend most time on tasks you excel at and enjoy (Unique Ability).

Chapter 10: Health

  • Exercise multiple times per week; daily is ideal.
  • Get therapy or join a CEO support group for mental well-being.
  • Meditation (10–15 mins daily) helps focus/calm the mind.

Part III – Group Habits

Chapter 11: Decision-Making

  • Pre-write proposals to save group time (Bezos-style doc reading).
  • Choose decision method based on needed buy-in:
    • Manager decides (low buy-in) → Quick but minimal consensus.
    • Manager w/ straw man → More input, moderate buy-in.
    • Full group consensus → Max buy-in, slowest.
  • RAPID framework for complex decisions:
    • Recommend, Agree, Perform, Input, Decide.
    • Type 1 (irreversible) vs. Type 2 (reversible) decisions.

Chapter 12: Loudest Voice in the Room

  • CEO’s stance can overshadow. Let others speak first or vote before CEO shares opinion.

Chapter 13: Impeccable Agreements and Consequences

  • Agreements must be precise and usually in writing.
  • If you can’t honour an agreement, alert others ASAP.
  • Repeat breaks → possible termination (culture demands accountability).

Chapter 14: Transparency

  • Share both positives and negatives openly with the team.
  • Keep only compensation/Performance Improvement Plans private (unless you adopt radical transparency fully).

Chapter 15: Conflict Resolution & Issue Identification

  • Conflict: have each party write down their Anger/Fear/Sadness/Joy/Excitement about the other. Share + clarify until fully heard.
  • Issues: “If you were CEO, what 3 issues would you solve?” plus an emotional deep-dive (Anger/Fear… about the company) to surface core problems.

Chapter 16: Conscious Leadership

  • Operate “above the line”: be open and curious, not defensive.
  • Take 100% responsibility; no blame/shame.
  • Practise daily techniques from The 15 Commitments of Conscious Leadership.

Chapter 17: Customer Obsession

  • Deeply empathise with real users—sit with them, watch usage, gather pain points.
  • Train engineers/teams to be as close to the customer as possible (no silos).

Chapter 18: Culture

  • Values: discover them collaboratively. Use them in hiring/firing.
  • Fun & Celebration: scheduled events, highlight achievements, keep it light.
  • Working Hours: focus on results. Core hours for real-time collab. Provide perks like meals if feasible.
  • No politics: no lobbying for raises—use standard policies. Avoid sowing resentment.
  • If conflict emerges, don’t let it devolve into “Lord of the Flies.” Intervene with structured feedback/facilitation.

Part IV – Infrastructure

Chapter 19: Company Folder System & Wiki

  • Use a structured folder (e.g., Google Drive). Each dept has a folder. Restrict only comp/performance reviews if needed.
  • Maintain a wiki (Notion or similar) with all key docs and processes for easy onboarding.
  • Write down processes as soon as you do them twice; add to wiki.

Chapter 20: Goal-Tracking Tools

Chapter 21: Areas of Responsibility (AORs)

  • Each function has exactly one DRI (Directly Responsible Individual).
  • Avoid shared ownership to prevent tasks slipping.
  • Keep an up-to-date AOR doc with owners + backups.

Chapter 22: No Single Point of Failure

  • Document processes so knowledge isn’t locked in one person.
  • Cross-train a backup for each key role.

Chapter 23: Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

  • Measure the big 5–6 metrics that matter across the company (e.g. MRR, renewals).
  • Use a dashboard (Geckoboard, chart displays, etc.).
  • Include counter-metrics to give context (avoiding easy-but-low-value tasks).

Part V – Collaboration

Chapter 24: Meetings

  • ACT: Accountability, Coaching, Transparency at every level (company, dept, team, individual).
  • Meeting types:
    • 1-on-1s, Team Meeting, All-Hands, Office Hours, Social Events, Quarterly Offsites.
  • One full “internal meeting day” per week for managers. Another for external if needed. 3 days for “maker time.”
  • One-on-ones: weekly/bi-weekly, focus on actions, coaching, and feedback (both ways).
  • Team meetings: pre-written updates to save time; turn unresolved issues into RAPIDs.
  • Quarterly Offsites: reflect on last quarter, set new OKRs, build relationships.

Chapter 25: Feedback

  • Receiving: ask for it explicitly, acknowledge it, decide if you accept, take action, and show appreciation.
  • Giving:
    • Ask permission, state the fact, the feeling, the story, then a request.
    • 2-way methods (video/in-person) so you see real-time reactions.

Chapter 26: Organisational Structure

  • Identify a CEO clearly once you’re beyond the micro-stage (~6+ people).
  • Dept heads: typical are Product, Engineering, Sales, Marketing, CS, Ops.
  • Keep the leadership team small (6–10 max). Org charts must be public/clear.
  • Avoid fancy titles too early—stick to “Head of X” to keep agility.
  • Re-org no more than every 3–6 months; communicate thoroughly.

Part VI – Processes

Chapter 27: Fundraising

  • Partner choice > firm brand. Work with the right individual partner.
  • Triangulation Method for intros: multiple folks simultaneously praising you to the investor.
  • Two styles:
    • Traditional pitch deck vs. Relationship approach (build trust personally first).
  • Check your inflection points—raise right after hitting big milestones.
  • SAFEs vs. priced equity: cheaper to do a SAFE if < $2–5M raise. Larger = priced round.
  • Voting Shares: consider multiple classes for founder control.
  • Keep legal fees down with a single 4–8 hour meeting including decision-makers + lawyers.

Chapter 28: Recruiting

  • Hire only A-players:
    • Scorecard (Outcomes + Competencies), Sourcing, Structured Interviews (Screen, Topgrading), References, Selling the role.
  • Offer: present multiple cash–equity combos so they can choose.
  • Onboarding: buddy system, thorough process documentation, 90-day roadmap.
  • Firing: If performance doesn’t improve, do a documented PIP or let them go kindly but firmly. Help them land well.

Chapter 29: Sales

  • 3 steps to close:
    • Build trust
    • Identify specific pain (ask right questions)
    • Sell results, not features
  • Don’t oversell or overpromise. Maintain integrity.
  • Team structure: SDR (Qualify), AE (Close), CS (Retain).
  • Leads: Seeds (word-of-mouth), Nets (marketing), Spears (outbound). Track metrics like cost per lead, churn, MRR growth.

Chapter 30: Marketing

  • Strategic marketing: define your target beachhead; solve a top pain for a specific segment first.
  • Achieve PMF before pouring money into marketing. Early marketing is about validating the solution.

Part VII – Other Departments

Chapter 31: Executive

  • Chief of Staff: extension of CEO for organising, anticipating needs—often ex-consultant background. Provide full access to everything so they learn quickly.

Chapter 32: Product

  • PM must interact heavily with customers + know dev constraints. They facilitate feature priority and specs.
  • Keep Product separate from Engineering org so priorities aren’t engineering-skewed.

Chapter 33: Engineering

  • Hire a strong manager to run the team (especially from a well-managed big tech company).
  • Use a system like JIRA once 10+ engineers. A small team of top engineers often outperforms bigger but average teams.

Chapter 34: Human Resources

  • Use a PEO (TriNet, Sequoia One) while small to manage payroll, compliance, benefits easily.
  • Transition to in-house HR around ~100–150 employees.

Chapter 35: Finance

  • Outsource CFO or top accountant early for monthly financial statements, projections, cost control.
  • Keep finances straightforward, watch runway carefully.

Chapter 36: Legal

  • Use top-tier firm (Cooley, Wilson Sonsini, etc.) for major rounds; smaller specialized counsel for day-to-day.
  • Negotiate fees/time by doing a single “all in one room/call” session if possible.

Part VIII – Appendices

Appendix A: Summary of Conscious Leadership

  • “Above the line” = open/curious; “Below the line” = defensive/wanting to be right.
  • Take radical responsibility. Don’t blame external factors; change starts with you.

Appendix B: The Challenge of the Technical Founder

  • Embrace sales: early engineering founders often dislike it, but it’s critical for trust/revenue.
  • Customer success: not everyone is equally technical; support them thoroughly.
  • Leaving coding: at some point, the founder/CEO must delegate engineering tasks to scale the business side.

Appendix C: Recruiting Process

  • Structured steps: Scorecard → Source → Select (Interviews: Screen, Topgrading, Focused, References) → Sell → Onboard.
  • Topgrading interview checks each previous job: hired to do what, accomplishments, mistakes, bosses, reason for leaving.

Appendix D: Sample AOR List

  • Shows departmental splits (Exec, Dev, Product, Sales, Marketing, Finance) with direct owners for each function + backups.

Appendix E: Board of Directors

  • Keep board small (3 or 5 seats) for quick decisions. Avoid even-number seats.
  • Provide thorough pre-reads so board has minimal Q&A. Summarise decisions effectively.

Appendix F: To IPO or Not to IPO?

  • Public listing → huge compliance overhead, quarterly pressures, short-seller risks.
  • Private markets often have ample capital; weigh lost flexibility vs. liquidity benefits.

Appendix G: Personal

  • Sleep: identify light/deep cycles, use GTD to calm mind, don’t panic if you wake up—just use or read quietly.
  • Liquidity: aim for $10–100M personal liquidity if your company’s stock is surging, to diversify.
  • Invest: store in a brokerage (e.g., Schwab), invest in low-cost index funds, re-balance periodically (Swensen’s approach).

Key Overall Principles

  • Stay Lean Pre-PMF: Small teams pivot faster, burn less cash.
  • Document & Systematise: Written processes + wiki + stable meeting cadences.
  • Foster Transparency & Feedback: Encourage open dialogue and accountability.
  • Customer-Centric & Empathetic: Everything from sales to engineering stems from real user pain.
  • Scale Only When Ready: Put robust systems in place once you surpass ~15–20 employees.

By consistently applying these frameworks, you’ll build a high-functioning organisation that grows sustainably while retaining a positive, transparent culture.