This is good news.
I’m sure it will be beneficial to both EllisLab and its community.
I immediately recalled the article that Rick Ellis posted one year ago titled “What does the CEO do, anyway?” (Recovered from the MSN cache. Pasted below for reference.), so I’m particulary excited that now Rick can spend more time doing vision work and product conceptualization.
By the way, there are great articles in the former ellislab.com blog. I’d love to see more articles of this kind by Rick Ellis.
What does the CEO do, anyway?
Posted by Rick Ellis on March 05, 2008 Permalink
Note: This is the first post in our new EllisLab blog, a venue in which I, and other members of our team, will communicate as candidly and openly as possible.
About five years ago I gave myself the title of CEO, even though I had only a cursory idea of what that meant. It didn’t matter, anyway, because I was so engrossed in my day-to-day activities that I was too busy to even think about such things. In those days the company was mostly me, with a little part-time help, so to say I was busy was an understatement.
Over the ensuing years we’ve grown like crazy, and along with that growth, like pealing an onion, I’ve been able to delegate tasks that used to be mine. Finally, last year, I was able to shed the last major area of responsibility: Software development. After six years of writing prodigious amounts of code, and nearly burning out in the process, I finally had a capable team in place—one that could actually do it better then I could. Ironically, while I now had the time to focus fully on my role of CEO, a funny thing happened: I had no idea what I was supposed to do. In fact, I felt like I had worked myself out of a job.
My role had always been clearly defined, more by circumstance then planning. When I first launched my little company I did everything. As we grew, even though I was able to delegate many of my responsibilities, there still wasn’t a moment in any day that I didn’t have something pressing to do. Yet now I felt like there was nothing for me to do except sign the paychecks every month. Nearly all of the major areas of responsibility that once had been mine had seemingly vanished, leaving a void that I wasn’t sure how to fill.
I’m not sure I should be so candid, but I spent a few months actually feeling a little depressed. It was as if my life no longer had purpose. I had worked so hard to build the company, and now it felt like I wasn’t needed anymore. All the challenges that I had worked so hard for—building a compelling product, finding its market for it, growing our team—had been met, so what was my purpose now?
There was plenty to do, of course, but I wasn’t able to see it because I hadn’t come to embrace the role of CEO or understand its purpose. I’ve always exhibited leadership, of course, and have made good decisions regarding our products, customers, and staff, but these decisions always seemed ancillary to my primary work as lead programmer, they were not my main focus, and as such, I undervalued the importance of those decisions and didn’t see that there was really a job there.
Fortunately, after feeling down for a while, it occurred to me that maybe I needed to re-calibrate myself. Instead of feeling like I didn’t have a role anymore, perhaps it was time to redefine my role, learn what being a CEO really meant, and set out to meet some new challenges. I’ve always been goal driven, so maybe it was time to define and fulfill a new trajectory for EllisLab.
Since that epiphany I’ve felt totally re-energized and excited about our future, and although I’m still learning as I go, I’ve begun to see much more clearly what my purpose is. Today, I see my job as fivefold:
1. Strategy, direction, and vision. Where is EllisLab going, and how are we going to get there? Back when I was programing every day, I didn’t have time to think about much beyond the next release or two. Today, it’s imperative that we develop both short-term and long-term goals, and map out how we intend to fulfill those goals.
For me, the broader strategic vision revolves around a single concept: EllisLab, as an enduring internet brand. Right now we are predominately a one product company (technically we have two products, but we don’t profit directly from one of them). Historically, single product companies don’t fare as well as multi-product ones, so It’s critical that we broaden our range of products and services over the coming years.
2. Developing teams and building our culture. Every company has a culture, and they are built from the top down. It sounds a little immodest, so I’m uncomfortable saying it, but EllisLab’s culture is a reflection primarily of me and my values. I’m the one that has always made the hiring decisions, so our team embodies the qualities that I deem important.
I’ve always felt that, as a hiring strategy, it’s much better to find people who are generally brilliant, who share similar values, and fit the culture, over people who are specifically qualified. Skills can be taught, human attributes, values, and personality can’t. For that reason, everyone who has joined our team has emerged via our community. We have never recruited externally.
So far, this strategy is working beautifully, although as our company grows, it becomes more critical for me to become more of a coach, or psychologist—someone who ensures that personalities mesh, that each person feels fulfilled, is productive, sees a future with us, buys into our vision, communicates with the right tone and approach, etc.
By the way, culture is one of the many reasons we’ve never accepted outside funding. Even adding one new staff member can bring integration challenges. Cultures are delicate things that must be nurtured. Companies that go on rapid hiring sprees tend to have crappy cultures.
3. Financial management. I don’t have an MBA and I’ve never been a CFO. This is really my first shot at managing the financial growth of a company, so I’m mindful of the fact that I need to get it right. Fortunately, as a company that develops virtual products with no manufacturing or distribution costs, our business model is quite simple. Still, as our company increases in size, the financial stakes get higher, and the need for transparency, security, and confidence in management becomes more critical both to our staff and our customers.
4. Product conceptualization. I’ve always been good at conceptualizing new product ideas. I love the challenge of envisioning a new application, and working through the design challenges. I’ve been through that creative process three times now, with pMachine Pro, ExpressionEngine, and CodeIgniter. Even though I’m no longer directly involved in development (other then strategically), I intend to help develop and push new ideas forward, build teams around them, and hopefully see them succeed.
5. Communication. I probably should have put this one first on the list, since every aspect of my role requires communication. This is an area in which I’ve often struggled. It’s ironic that I build software the lets people communicate, yet I’m probably the world’s worse blogger. It’s not in my nature to seek the limelight or to be out front, so it’s often difficult for me to put myself in that position, but it’s vital that I become more visible and communicative externally, and that I build strong internal channels.