r/ceo

so I've been leading our company the last few years (I'm an owner). We're doing fine but I grew up as a founder and we've slowly grown over 15 years. I feel like I'm bush league and that most CEO's come from Bain or wherever and have their plans and formulas and whatever to grow 15% a year. I'm happy to grow profit 10% a year (our industry is fine but growth has been tough for me). Don't get me wrong - we are profitable and do well, but not the sexy growth.

Is there a CEO bootcamp you all can recommend ? Any books/training I'm not uneducated, I have an MBA from a very good school but i never actually did anything outside of our small company. Something tells me I should know more and be able to do more.

What do you all think ? Please be kind. It's humbling to write this at Midnight.

I'm curious if only few people are "made" for the role or if anyone can grow into the role? What is one soft skill that's needed to not only be a CEO, but thrive as one?

I am 32M. Web Dev. Web Engineer. Mobile dev for. My total work experience is 9 years. How do you all became CEO? Any suggestions?

Something I wish someone had told me earlier.

Every time I hired someone good enough because budget was tight, I didn't just fill a seat. I made it harder to attract anyone better afterward. 

Strong people don't want to work next to people who don't give a shit and they can tell within a week.

The real cost wasn't the salary. It was that each mediocre hire quietly lowered the bar for the next one. And the one after that.

You don't notice it happening until you're trying to recruit someone genuinely good and they pass not because of comp but because of the room they'd be walking into.

The standard you accept becomes the standard you're stuck with.

Curious if others have felt this or if you think it's possible to raise the bar after the fact without basically rebuilding the team from scratch.

Two businesses, same industry, both doing $5M in revenue. Both are profitable and growing at roughly the same rate.

One sells for $15M. The other sells for $40M.

Same week, same buyer pool, different outcomes.

The variable that decides which one is which has nothing to do with revenue or growth. It comes down to the dependency that the founder/CEO has on the business.

Strategic Exit Advisors found that founder-dependent businesses transact at 3-4x EBITDA. Systematized businesses in the same space get 7-8x. That works out to a 30-50% valuation discount.

For a business doing $1M EBITDA, that's a $4M difference. For $3M EBITDA, it's $12M. Real money. The kind of money that decides whether your kids inherit a portfolio or just the keys to your inbox.

The 5 biggest red flags that potential purchasers are looking at:

Revenue tied to your personal relationships rather than the brand or contracts.

No documented systems, the business runs on what's in your head.

Customer concentration where the top three accounts are 70%+ of revenue.

A team that needs you to make every meaningful decision.

Books that mix personal and business expenses, or take 90 days to produce a clean P&L.

If three or more of those are true on your business, the buyer is looking at a 3-year earnout where you train them how to run something they can't run without you.

The part most owners don't think about until it's too late: dependency follows you out the door even after the close. Earnouts get longer, escrows get larger, and you stay trapped working for the new owner at a salary that's a fraction of what you used to pay yourself.

The 30-50% you "save" by skipping systems work now is the same 30-50% you lose at the closing table later. Plus 2-3 years of golden handcuffs you didn't sign up for.

If you're 5-10 years out from any kind of exit conversation, the highest-leverage work is the unsexy infrastructure stuff. Documented systems, a team that owns outcomes without your input, clean books, customer relationships tied to the company name rather than your personal phone. That's what moves the multiple from 3x to 7x. Revenue growth alone won't do it.

Put together a longer breakdown that walks through the full 6 things buyers actually pay for, with the diagnostic we use to find which ones a business is missing. Link's on my youtube link on my profile

For anyone who's been through a sale or serious diligence on the buy side: have you ever evaluated a business and have seen some serious red flags?

I’m considered for a CEO position (currently CMO, which feels like not a natural transition for some reason? Although in this case it does make sense).

I’m not sure I even have a specific question, it’s too early…

What’s your story? I’d love to hear.

I don’t