How to Get Your Founder or CEO to Make A Decision Now

You want to move forward but you can’t until your founder/CEO makes the final decision and you’re tired of waiting… Here’s a technique that could get them to decide today that does not run the risk of coming off as disrespectful. Below you will find an email template you can use should you decide to follow through on the strategy I offer in this video.

DRAFT EMAIL TO YOUR CEO (Please consider this as a starting point that you customize to fit your unique situation.)

Hi ____,

I know that you want to decide on the VP of Marketing position so I thought it might help to have the pros and cons as I see them laid out for you.

(What follows is an example outline for you to follow.)

Start with the goal…
(Our goal is to realize the full revenue and brand building opportunity that comes with the ____ event.)

Remind them of the strategy to meet the goal…
(To achieve this we agreed that we need someone operating at a VP of Marketing level.)

Remind of the decision to be made…
(The options we identified are to hire somebody now or promote from within.)

Provide options…

Option A: Hire new
– Pros (list pros)
– Cons (list cons)

Option B: Promote from within
– Pros (list pros)
– Cons (list cons)

Make your recommendation…
(I recommend we hire new for these reasons…)

I’ve checked in with the team and here is where they stand.

John: new
Jenny: Promote
Meg: Promote

If you want me to get the reasoning behind each of their votes I can do that for you.

Prompt a decision…
(Maybe this gives you the clarity you need to make your decision now? If so, what do you want to do? If not, and there is something I can find out for you that would enable you to decide now, tell me what it is and I will get the information.)

Humble yourself and provide an opt-out…
(Hope you find this helpful, if not, feel free to delete it. I’m sure there are many factors that I am not aware of that have delayed you from making this decision until now. I trust your judgment.)

– Signed, your name

That’s it! In the video I provide you with critical texture, color, and context, so please listen to it before using this template.

The real reason for the mounting friction between you and your co-founder

I want all founders to know how common it is that one of the co-founders ends up feeling used up and spit out by their company as well as betrayed by their co-founders.

I want you to know why it happens, that it’s normal, that it’s not personal, and what you can do to avoid it.

In the last year alone I have coached more than a dozen founders through ugly breakups. Many of these I could have prevented had they brought me in a year earlier.

SO I HOPE that this video and the others I will make on the topic makes it to founders in distress as early in the process as possible.

Here’s the scenario I have seen play out over and over.

Typically, one of the co-founders will be rejected by the company, like a splinter pushed out of a palm over time, around the time of the Series B. But the problem started just before the Series A.

It’s rarely the founder/CEO or the technical co-founder.
It’s usually the founder whos branding, product, marketing and culture talents were mission critical up to Series A.

In this video, I will…
– Normalize this.
– Explain why this happens.
– Explain how to make it as painless as possible.
– Suggest ways to prevent it. (Did I address that? I can’t remember now and I’m not going to watch the video again. If not, let me know and I will make a video about it.)

And I’ll throw in a few good stories as well.
Writing this, now I wish I would have told the story of how this happened to me, but I didn’t. I thought it would make the video too long.

What did I miss? Let me know in the comments below and maybe I’ll address it in my next video.

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My videos will not only help you solve issues that are keeping you up at night but enable you to turn them into personal and professional development accelerators! It’s my goal that you master the inner game of startup leadership as well as the outer BEFORE your next exit. I want the next startup you dedicate yourself too to be one that solves one of the countless problems threatening life as we know it.

In fact, the best arena for rapid personal and professional development is the leadership team of a venture-backed startup if you know how to leverage the opportunity as such. This is what I want to teach you how to do.

Since leaving the startup I founded for executive coaching in 2010, I have spent more than 7000 hours in one-to-one coaching conversations with startup leaders facing make or break challenges. In my sessions, I provide both the tactical advice as well as the personal and spiritual development insights that accelerate my client’s development in all areas of their life.

These videos are a personal challenge. Can I provide you with “save the day” coaching advice AND the game-changing personal and or spiritual development insights a 4 to 8-minute long video? You tell me how I am doing in the comments.

I will focus on helping you solve the little known and seldom discussed issues that plague co-founders and the teams that work for them from near Series A through Exit.

I will organize the videos using playlists and keywords making it easy for you to find a video that addresses the challenge you are facing.