Criteria To Be A Successful Startup CEO Vary Depending on the Situation

Unfortunately, the criteria to be a successful startup CEO vary depending on the person, his/her experience, the offering of the startup, the target market, the stage in the business life cycle of the startup, the entrepreneurial ecosystem in which the startup is growing, etc. Further, in some instances, excellent executives solve problems differently than those with lesser skills.

But the one startup CEO experience factor that seems to repeat most within the successful ones that I have met is as follows…. management experience successfully launching products/services to the same target market. The closer the similarity of offering the better; assuming no conflict of interest with a prior employer.

I have seen several Silicon Valley investors ask questions of startups that are a version of; What experience do the key executives in this startup have, launching products to this same market sector?

Some say that you should earn a management role with Profit & Loss (P/L) responsibility before trying to launch a startup.

Obviously, some inexperienced startup CEOs have succeeded spectacularly. But, in my experience, executives with 5-10 years of relevant management experience find an easier path. The challenge for those with less experience is to find ways to bypass or overcome this difference.