I'm an operator-grade peer to CEOs of post-PMF software companies when the work cuts across more than one seat at the table - when the standard functional moves keep widening the gap rather than closing it. The problem isn't function-shaped. There's no seat at the table exactly shaped for it.
Across CEO, CPTO, CPO, and CTO seats over six platform shifts, I've watched the same shape arrive: the company that should be moving but isn't.
The work: I diagnose the actual shape, embed alongside the CEO for a bounded window, and transition into the right permanent structure on the other side.
What makes it hard isn't only the technical and operational dimension - it's the human-systems read underneath: what's actually happening between people in the leadership team, not just what's on the whiteboard. Get that read wrong, and the engagement falls apart under stress. Get it right, and you've unlocked the next level.
Four exits. Engagements are bounded, with capability transfer on the back end.
FiveRuns at RailsConf/CabooseConf and taking folks to see Penn & Teller
Attending RailsConf and/or CabooseConf? Join FiveRuns to see Penn & Teller perform at the Rio on Tuesday night.
We’ve got transportation and 40 tickets to catch Penn & Teller at the Rio on Tuesday night. Want to join us? Drop your name in the… hat. Okay, it’s not a hat, but you get the idea.
Enter your name before 8am Tuesday morning; winners will be notified by 10am via email.
See you in Las Vegas!
Webcast: How to Build a Lean Startup, step-by-step
O’Reilly and Eric Ries are doing an interesting webcast - Webcast: How to Build a Lean Startup, step-by-step. Having recently waded into this end of the pool - I’m getting a lot out of the whole lean startup idea. No great surprise, since it extends what I’m familiar with, from within product development, to all the streams of work that makes up a startup
Intriguing (and radical) approach on how to operate a business
Check out “The Open Company - Running your business as if it were an Open Source Project. It describes a radical approach (at least from my POV) on how to operate a business. I’m not a business operations person, so I don’t have the chops to completely evaluate the proposition here ahead of time. However, there are some intrigiung ideas in this article and I love where this could lead (not to mention the potential to upset the apple cart).