With over 25 years of experience in venture capital, Nic Brisbourne, a senior partner at Molten Ventures, has seen many CEO successions. One of them was at Makers, the business I founded and ran until 2020 when I stepped down as CEO. (I interviewed my CEO successor Claudia Harris in an earlier episode.)
His advice?
The first thing is to try [getting] involved with companies where you're not going to need to transition the CEO.
Why? CEO transitions are very risky at the best of times.
Whenever you hire a new chief exec into a company, maybe the chances of it working are, like, 50% to 60%.
Yet, sometimes, the CEO change is exactly the right thing to do, as was the case at Makers.
In this episode, Nic and I discuss the do’s and don’ts of CEO succession that he learned by participating in several leadership transitions in his portfolio, including, of course, my own startup, Makers.
Enjoy the conversation!
Timestamps
(Clickable on YouTube)
00:00 Introduction
02:14 How Not To Force Out a CEO
09:12 The Risks Of Removing a CEO
10:52 Selecting the Right Successor
14:59 We'll Invest If You Step Down
19:58 CEO Transition at Makers
27:05 Key Factors for a Successful Transition
32:00 How To Start Discussing a CEO Succession
39:42 CEO Performance vs Company Performance
41:25 Advice for Founders and Investors
49:01 Final Reflections
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