From bankrupt to bankroll, 
how I had to start again

Key Takeaways

• The role of CEO can be learned. Most founders fail not from lack of talent, but from never studying the role itself. Leadership is a trainable skill, not a genetic gift.
• Builder vs. Scaler is the critical mindset shift. The skills that got you here won’t get you there. You must transition from doing everything yourself to building the team and systems that do everything.
• Clarity, rhythm, and standards are the foundation. These first three CEO responsibilities power the other four. Get them right and everything else becomes easier to execute.

Most CEOs think they’re better than they actually are.

Especially founders who inherited the title on day one. But when you ask what a CEO does day-to-day, most can’t give you a clear answer. I couldn’t either when I first got started.
Many years later, after working with hundreds of CEOs, I’ve realized that failure in the role:

• Is not a vision thing (usually)
• Is not a skill thing (usually)
• Is not a leadership thing (usually)

They simply don’t understand the role of a CEO.
The same thing happened to me. The founder-to-CEO transition kicked my ass. I had to learn the hard way what the CEO responsibilities actually are, and what being a CEO truly means.