“The board is a team of people in dynamic collaboration with the CEO, who, in a startup company, is almost always a founder. If the two founders hired a CEO, that CEO is essentially a third founder. The key dynamic—and it’s super hard—is one I learned through LinkedIn: you’re actually looking for a cofounder. You’re looking for a cofounder who may have a different skill set than the people who are part of the initial “family” or “tribe.”

There are various tests for cofounders. Like, “Would you do this job if we paid you half of what we’re paying you? Because you’re really committed to this thing?” That’s not to say you should pay them half, but you want someone who sees this as the thing they want to do.

When people hire a new CEO, they frequently say, “Well, I’m hiring a skill set.” Skill set’s important—which level you’re at, your ability to make it work. The reason you’re hiring a new CEO is because there are new skill sets that are critically important. But if someone doesn’t have the founder’s mindset, they’ll be fundamentally, at best, in asset management. They’ll make sure that things keep running, keep going on a trajectory. But the ability to change the curve means taking a risk that a founder would take. That requires moral authority, but it also requires mental willingness—including risking hearing that, “You really screwed up, you’re doing this really badly.” You have to be willing to go through that in order to make it happen.

Hiring Kiva’s new CEO: a success story

A ritual for hiring executives

For each executive you hire,

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and share with your board. This ritual can often be done asynchronously, and then discussed live in a board meeting.

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1. Nail key candidate traits

2. Source candidates

3. Interview and collect feedback

4. Decide

Next up:

1:1 Meetings

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