Startup CEO ^{2nd Ed.}

Being a startup CEO is a job like no other: it's difficult, risky, stressful and, in venture capitalist and long-time Return Path Board Member Fred Wilson's view, "lonely, heavy duty, and a thankless task." As a startup CEO, seeing things for the first time, you're likely to make mistakes, to fail, to get things wrong, and to feel like you don't have any control over outcomes.

Author Matt Blumberg has been there, and in Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business, Second Edition he shares his experiences, mistakes, and lessons learned as he guided Return Path from a handful of employees and no revenues to over $100 million in revenues and 500 employees in 2019. In the highly volatile internet world, Matt and his team managed the company through the dot-com crisis of 2000, 9/11, the financial meltdown of 2008, and through the successful sale to Validity in May 2019.

Startup CEO is not a memoir of Return Path's 20-year journey, but a thoughtful CEO-focused book that provides first-time CEOs with advice, tools, and approaches for the situations that they will likely face.

Organized into six parts — Storytelling, Building Human Capital, Execution, Leading a Board of Directors, Managing Yourself, and Selling Your Company — Matt guides you through the thorny, challenging situations you'll face and provides solutions. With this book as your guide, you'll discover:

• How to tell your story to your team, new hires, investors, and customers for better decisions, greater alignment, and speed
• How to balance your life and grow your company at the same time
• How to develop, lead, and leverage your board of directors

A new section covers selling your company. As a first-time CEO you'll probably sell your company only once, but buyers will have done multiple deals. How can you turn that to your advantage so that your company is bought, not sold?

Startup CEO is the field guide every CEO needs throughout the growth of their company.

1. The Importance of Authentic Leadership in Changing Times
• Part ONE: Storytelling
2. Dream the Possible Dream
3. Defining and Testing the Story
4. Telling the Story to Your Investors
5. Telling the Story to Your Team
6. Revising the Story
7. Bringing the Story to Life
• Part TWO: Building the Company's Human Capital
8. Fielding a Great Team
9. The CEO as Functional Supervisor
10. Crafting Your Company's Culture
11. The Hiring Challenge
12. Every Day in EveryWay,We Get a Little Better
13. Compensation
14. Promoting
15. Rewarding: "It's the Little Things" That Matter
16. Managing Remote Offices and Employees
17. Firing: When It's Not Working
• Part THREE: Execution
18. Creating a Company Operating System
19. Creating Your Operating Plan and Setting Goals
20. Making Sure There's Enough Money in the Bank
21. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Financing
22. When and How to Raise Money
23. Forecasting and Budgeting
24. Collecting Data
25. Managing in Tough Times
26. Meeting Routines
27. Driving Alignment
28. Have You Learned Your Lesson?
29. Going Global
30. The Role of M&A
31. Competition
32. Failure
• Part FOUR: Building and Leading a Board of Directors
33. The Value of a Good Board
34. Building Your Board
35. Board Meeting Materials
36. Running Effective Board Meetings
37. Non-Board Meeting Time
38. Decision Making and the Board
39. Working with the Board on Your Compensation and Review
40. Serving on Other Boards
• Part FIVE: Managing Yourself So You Can Manage Others
41. Creating a Personal Operating System
42. Working with an Executive Assistant
43. Working with a Coach
44. The Importance of Peer Groups
45. Staying Fresh
46. Your Family
47. Traveling
48. Taking Stock of the Year
• Part SIX: Selling Your Company
49. A Note on Exits
50. Preparing Yourself for an Exit
51. Preparing Your Company for an Exit
52. The Sale Process
53. Transition and Integration
54. Thinking about Your Next Step
• Conclusion