Who should be CEO?

The CEO is the business guy. As a CEO, you don't get to code. Instead, you'll get to do the paperwork, answering phones, making cold calls, a lot of meetings, and a lot of traveling. It's fun at first, but gets boring quickly for technical people. You have to be comfortable with that role and must be a good communicator and marketer. <p>It's a fancy title, but don't let that tempt you against your good judgement. The founders of a lot of technology startups go out and hire an outsider to be the CEO. Google is a good example. Even Steve Jobs hired a CEO in the early days of Apple. <p>If you're in the very early days, then just put Founder as a title for all founders. You don't need to get into conflicts too early.

I suggest outsourcing CEOs: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/09/opinion/09orlow.html?ex=1307505600&en=8926f03224ff1d65&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss">http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/09/opinion/09orlow.html?ex=1307505600&en=8926f03224ff1d65&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss</a>

In my first company (founded 9 years ago) we were three founders and I was CEO. The decision was easy - the other two were better technologists, and I had better people skills. In my new start-up the first thing I did was bring in a friend I trust, with business experience relevant to the venture (but no technology experience) as partner and CEO. So, what gives? It was fun holding the title back then, and I didn't do a bad job, but eventually I realized that the technology is more interesting for me, and as CEO you simply don't get to deal with that. Now that I'm a much better techie than I was back then, it was just obvious to me that I shouldn't be CEO.

Being CEO has its downsides like any other job. It means you are the one that shields everyone else from verbal beatings if customers are unhappy. <p>You're the guy that takes the heat if something is not going well. Especially at a small company, if someone is going to get chewed out by the customer, its going to be you. It often means you have to stay later and work harder than everyone else. <p>So. With power (the final say) comes alot of responsibility. <p>So who should it be? It probably depends alot on the business but lots of styles could work.

Usually the guy who is handling the business side of things--such as incorporation, running the marketing etc.

How did you guys decide about this? A very important and sensitive question, but if you guys can give some insight on this, that would be great!!

How much of a role do investors have in deciding the CEO?

Me.