Executives and Founders are Different
The “Straight Truth” question:
“Ethan, what did you compromise to be an executive rather than a founder?”
The first thing is obvious — had I founded a successful company, I might have made a lot more money.
Executives are well-paid, but founders make far more.
We all know the risk/reward tradeoff. In exchange for accepting a lower reward, I had a lower perceived risk. I say perceived because it is not clear that this was actually true.
Twice I worked at startups where I was laid off but the founders were not.
Amazon did layoffs. So in terms of “job security,” it is not clear that being a founder actually has a higher risk.
However, there are other forms of risk. Founders risk total failure. Bankruptcy and failing to achieve their vision.
Employees, even executives, can always cloak themselves in the safety of “well, I did my job, it isn’t my fault that the overall company failed.” Call this emotional security.
The Straight Truth is that I was afraid of both financial and intellectual failure at this level. In this post, I answer “Do you have what it takes to start your own company?”
If I have one regret it is that I did not take more risk sooner in my life.
Given a do-over of my younger life, I would take more risks. Part of my career advice is to “take more calculated risks.” Whether you read this in The 4-Hour Workweek or in the works of Nassim Taleb, taking good risks pays off.
The second compromise I will call “becoming political” or “compromising your beliefs.”
Executives have to get along with a lot of people: Bosses, CEOs, peers, direct reports, HR.
It takes a lot of energy to sell all of these people on a vision and sometimes they oppose you anyway. Sometimes they do it openly and sometimes they stab you in the back, giving you poor feedback during review or promotion time.
Overall I was pretty good at earning the trust of a majority of these people and delivering enough value to get promoted many times, but along the way, I also compromised at least a few times where it mattered. I went along with bad ideas because I was not sure they were bad enough to fight to the death to change them.
Note: When I list what compromises I made, I want to be clear that I am only talking about compromises essentially of character, personality, or direction. There were other "compromises" in terms of moving around for jobs, time with family, high stress, etc. These are common to both executive and founder roles and are not the topic of this post.
I welcome comments and insights, including from any who know me personally and feel I omitted critical truths.
Audience Insights
I have consolidated additional ideas worth considering from my LinkedIn audience, including:
Founders focus on things that move the company needle, because their survival depends on it. On the other hand, many executives spend time “showing” progress toward an OKR. Another way to say it, executives spend time on process and outcomes, and it is the process part that can feel slow and bureaucratic.
As an executive, stand out and buck the pressures and trends you see with big companies with intense customer obsession and focus on long-term free cashflow over short term financial measures like quarterly earnings.
“Founder Freedom” is a double edge sword. No checks and balances result in more innovation and more tyrants (getting away with bad behavior).
The difference summarized:
Executive: “If you die on this hill, you won’t be around to fight the next battle.”
Founder: “But, if you really believe that is the hill worth fighting for, then go and start your own company.”
Become an Executive
The Executive job is demanding and complex.
That’s why good executives are rare and highly paid.
My course, Stuck at Senior Manager - How to Break Through to Executive, covers in depth the expectations against which executives are judged and gives specific, step-by-step instructions on how to manage your promotion to this level.
Watch the below introduction video to see what you get.
Get the on-demand course here.
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What is Straight Truth"? I take people’s hard questions and answer them in as direct a manner as possible, cutting through the polite fiction of larger workplaces. Jobs and careers are not as “fair” as we hope. I cannot give you justice at work, I can give you the truth as I see it
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Level Up is a free newsletter from retired Amazon Vice President Ethan Evans that breaks down how he succeeded and how you can get to the next level.