Founder-CEO is the hardest job in SaaS. It’s non-stop, lonely and high-pressure – not to mention physically and mentally draining. So how do successful leaders cope?
On the SaaS Revolution Show podcast, I often ask my guests: ‘what’s the hardest thing about being a founder or CEO?’ The responses have been both enlightening and – as a founder-CEO myself – reassuring.
Here are some of my favourite Founder-CEO coping strategies.
Work-life balance
“One of the luxuries of being a founder or CEO is you get to choose the hours you work.” Abakar Saidov, CEO, Beamery.
- Choose your routine. Abakar Saidov keeps 6-8am and 6-8pm sacrosanct to be at home to see his kids. He also puts a premium on work travel: only going to see customers, partners or team members, preferably Monday-Friday.
- Find time for what you love. Raised in Colorado, avid skier and Warmly Co-founder-CEO Max Greenwald likes to work American hours in Europe, skiing in the morning, starting work at noon and working until midnight.
- Separate work and home life. Steve Oriola, CEO at Unbounce, tries to leave any work angst or frustration at ‘the office’ even when working remotely. When that’s not possible, the key is to talk openly with his partner.
Physical & mental routine
“It’s one of the loneliest jobs in the world that gets lonelier and harder as you go.” Rahul Vohra, Founder CEO, Superhuman.
- Focus on self-care. To ensure he has the energy for the job, Rahul Vohra, Founder-CEO of Superhuman & Rapportive meditates for an hour every day (30 mins in the morning and 30 mins in the afternoon) and gets acupuncture once per week. The result? He’s happier, more creative and can focus for longer.
- Block out an hour per day. G2 Co-Founder and CEO, Godard Abel, blocks an hour in his calendar every day for physical, spiritual and mental time, such as working out, taking a bike ride or reading.
- Snap out of the stress. Steve Oriola takes cold plunges to snap out of work pressures as you’re only able to think about breathing and not dying.
Enjoyment
“When you enjoy things, you do them better.” Bethany Stachenfeld, Co-founder and CEO, Sendspark
- Change your mindset. For Zandra Moore, Co-founder and CEO of Panintelligence, being a female founder in SaaS is hard work, tiring, relentless – but she’s able to crack on by reminding herself that she’s doing what she loves.
- Remember the greater purpose. On days when he’s left thinking: why am I doing this? Godard Abel reminds himself that being a founder was his choice and there’s a greater purpose and vision to what he does. This way, he can still enjoy being a Founder-CEO even when it sucks.
- Optimise for enjoyment. Bethany Stachenfeld focuses on the tasks she wants to do at that point in time. If there’s something she needs to do, but doesn’t feel like it, she does something more enjoyable first and comes back to it.
Support
“As you don’t have a peer in your organisation, you have to find that outside of your organisation.” Dee Coakley, Co-Founder and CEO, Boundless
- Speak to other CEOs. Matt Mullenweg, Founder and CEO at Automattic, finds it ‘isolating’ at the top with people contacting him less due to his position. He therefore builds a small cohort of other CEOs or past CEOs to whom he can vent to, talk about what he’s going through and seek advice.
- Find peers outside your company. Dee Coakley also finds it challenging being the only CEO in the company and therefore seeks out peers beyond the organisation at events and through the SaaStock Founder Membership.
- Share your weaknesses. Godard seeks support from his co-founders, family and leadership team. For him, it’s important to share his flaws with others as it not only makes him feel better, but helps forge better connections with his team.
In-work tips
“You can’t bring a babysitter into the company.” Eynat Guez, Co-founder & CEO, Papaya Global.
- Focus on two-way communication. Listening and communication becomes harder with 100+ people, so Steve Oriola sets up frequent Q&As with remote teams and offices where people can ask him anything.
- Carve out time for strategy. You have to wear many hats as a CEO, but if you’re not leading the strategy, you’ll have no strategy at all, says Eynat Guez. That’s why she always keeps at least 20% of capacity for long-term strategy and 80% on the here and now (‘70:30 is even better’).
- Give yourself headspace for context switching. From prospects to team members to customers to investors, CEOs are constantly switching between contexts, so Zandra Moore always gives herself enough time between meetings to get into the right zone.
Connect with the SaaS Community at SaaStock USA
It’s lonely, it’s tough, but at the end of the day, we do it because we love it – and believe in it.
I set up SaaStock 10 years ago as a space where founders can interact with like-minded people, seek support, share advice and build that ‘small cohort’ like Matt Mullenweg.
And it runs through everything we do, across our global conferences, Founder Membership, local meetups, and SaaS Revolution Show podcast.
As a founder myself, I really do believe that it’s invaluable to surround yourself with others in similar situations. Many of those amazing Founder-CEOs above, including Matt, Rahul and Bethany are speaking at SaaStock USA in Austin on 13-15 May.
This article was originally published in the SaaStock Blueprint newsletter. Subscribe now to get insights like this (and exclusive event discounts) straight to your inbox.
