Evgeny Shadchnev PCC’s Post

I'm so proud of Makers today! Government Digital and Data chose Makers to deliver its TechTrack programme, helping train many civil servants across England as software developers and DevOps engineers. I'm excited because: ⇨ The government chose to invest in training its civil servants, which is becoming more important as our society becomes digital; ⇨ It's a real testament to the quality that Makers delivers: we were chosen over many other providers; ⇨ This is an amazing opportunity for many talented people to upskill and advance their careers WITHOUT paying for the two-year training while receiving a salary from day one. When Makers was founded over a decade ago, we had no idea that one day we'd be playing a meaningful part in helping the UK government prepare for the digital age. Excited to see what the next decade brings!

I posted this on my Substack yesterday, and someone replied: "This is about 10 years old" :) Well, true. But I've never been a trendsetter; I'm simply learning what's right for me. A multidimensional ikigai is an intersection of things that I love, that pay money, that the world needs and that I could be good at, but across many different things, not just one profession. Plus, I'm doing this under my own name rather than a company brand. This is not anything new indeed — but I see more and more people choosing this approach (hi Alex Merry, hi ⚡️ Roberta aka Beta Lucca), and that's very inspiring for me. If you're curious about my journey, here are the details ↓

Being bad at fundraising can be an advantage. We're so often focused on things we think we can't do. We try hard to learn them. Founders spend countless energy trying to learn fundraising. Yet, when I asked one of the CEOs I know why he never raised, he was honest: "I'm shit at fundraising. I don't know how to pitch. I hate the idea." I think he had one conversation with a potential angel in his life, and that was it. Result? He runs a wonderful SaaS business with no investors on the cap table. It wasn't easy to bootstrap a SaaS business, but he leaned into his strengths instead of trying to learn to sell his vision. He spent years obsessing about customers, not investors. Knowing him and how fundraising works, I don't think he would have raised money, and if he had, it might have killed the business because the business survived by doing things investors would not have liked. But it worked for him. Walk your own path. Own your strengths. Do things your way. Trust your gut. Only you know what's right for you.

Why is 7 a special number that influences when CEOs often step down? Because of delegation skills. As Tomasz Tunguz from Theory Ventures explains in a conversation with Erik Torenberg, managers are best when leading about 7 people. This means that when the startup reaches about 30-50 people, the founder has to manage the first layer of the hierarchy. They go from managing ICs to managing managers, which requires a different skill set. Some founders adapt, and some do not. When the CEO starts managing managers of managers (another layer), this requires yet another skill set. As Tomasz puts it: "There's a skill set of managing people. There's a skill set of managing managers of people. There's another skill set, which is managing managers of managers of people, and so on, and so there's this like I think the number is like 8, 37, 144, and it's basically just how many managers do you have." In my experience, these two points (30-50 people and 120-180 people) are when CEOs need to really reinvent how they lead and manage, and when the pressure to step down can be felt acutely. Link to the full episode in the comments. Enjoy the conversation!

The biggest career move I made was letting go of a single label that defined me professionally. In my 20s, I was a software developer. A simple label. In my 30s, I was a founder and CEO. Also, very clear. In my 40s, I am: - a coach - an entrepreneur - an author - a podcaster (almost! launching in Sep) - someone who knows a lot about CEO succession in startups - advisor/mentor/consultant This is not to mention my keen interest in psychology and meditation, even though I'm not a therapist or a meditation authority of any kind. Instead of choosing a box and trying to fit in perfectly, I'm trying to follow my curiosity and see how just being myself matches what the world needs. Sometimes it does, often it doesn't. Yet, there's something tremendously satisfying in following my intuition about where my work and my life are taking me. Reflecting on this helps me realise that the founders I tend to work with are also the same: less focused on fitting better into a box and more interested in figuring out who they are and what it means. People think I "do" CEO succession. No. I help founders learn what life they should be living: sometimes, it means killing it as a CEO, and sometimes, it means stepping down. The point, really, is to live the life and do the work that you know you should be doing right now.

If you're a founder CEO being pushed out by the investors, this might be a constructive dismissal. What's that? If you feel like you have no other option but to resign because of how your investors are behaving towards you, this might be a constructive dismissal — you were pushed out of the company. If you resign, you will likely lose your unvested shares and options and might even be forced to sell some of your vested shares at an unattractive price, depending on what the company's documents say. Instead, speak to an employment lawyer about your situation. Firing a CEO against their will can be quite hard for the board, so the chances are that even if you end up leaving your business, you'll negotiate a settlement agreement with materially better terms than a simple resignation. Also, if you're keen to keep vesting your equity, but the board doesn't want you in the CEO seat, an option might be a change of role. If you stay employed in a different role (even if not as a CEO), then your equity will keep on vesting. Everyone's situation is unique, and the law is complex, which is why it's essential to speak to an experienced lawyer, as Gretchen Lennon and I discussed on the Startup CEO Succession podcast (out in September).

I don’t have a plan for my life. Instead, I trust my intuitive sense of who I am becoming, what brings me closer and what actions distance me from it. This reflects my fundamental belief that life is not a problem to be figured out, a challenge that requires a plan to solve, but an experience to be part of and engage with. This attitude is terrifying and liberating in equal measure. It’s terrifying not to know where my life might take me — and, on occasions, it takes me to not-so-nice places. Yet it’s liberating to be open to life’s experience instead of trying to force my life into the confines of how I think it “should” go. That’s where battles are won, and wars are lost: outwardly successful people who feel dead on the inside. If you're curious to read more, I expand on this in my Substack essay:

Founders leaving their companies may struggle to imagine what's next for them. Two reasons: First, running your own business for many years shapes your identity. This can make it very hard to imagine doing anything else, even though many options are available. Second, every founder leaving their startup for whatever reason is likely exhausted. They need rest and reflection. They may not be in the best shape to reinvent their career. Yet, there are many options available to them: * joining someone else's startup * joining a big company * going freelance * going into investment * etc Slowing down to reflect carefully on what they want to do next can help founders see the opportunities they may not see straight away. PS This clip is from the Conscious Entrepreneur podcast this week!

Talking about a CEO transition during fundraising can signify ambition. Here's why: Founders are often worried during fundraising that if they hint that they might choose to step down in the future, the investors will see it as a red flag. In reality, it's more complex. If the intention is to found a truly fast-growing company, there's a chance that it will grow faster than the founder CEO's skillset. In this case, a founder who's hell-bent on staying as a CEO will be a liability. The right thing will be to realise a different leader is needed. This is why Rory Stirling of Connect Ventures said on the Startup CEO Succession podcast (out in September!) that he interpreted such a conversation with a founder he invested in as a sign of ambition, not a weakness. It doesn't mean that every founder CEO has to step down — far from it. But it's wise to regularly ask the question: Am I still the best person for the next stage of the journey? ------------ 👨💻 I believe that founder-CEO successions don't have to be messy or painful. 🔔 Follow me and click the bell in my profile to make sure you don't miss new posts. 💌 Sign up for my weekly Substack — link in profile.

Four years ago, we made a big life decision on a whim. We decided to move from London to Portugal. After the first lockdown in 2020, we booked a holiday in Portugal, keen to enjoy the sunshine for a while. When we took this selfie on arrival, we had no idea we would stay! Egle was the first to suggest that maybe we don't have to go back to London. At first, I shrugged it off as a joke, but the next day, I was looking at visa rules and rental options myself. The winning argument was simply... we can always move back, right? The following month, we returned to London to pack, vaccinate our cat, and say goodbye to the city that had been home to each of us for over a decade. It's been four years. No country is perfect. Most of my friends are still in London, and I'm not terribly comfortable with how often I fly to London for work. Yet, the weather, the food, the people, the ocean, the cost of living and many other things make Portugal a dream destination. In retrospect, I realised we were part of a wave of British entrepreneurs making the same move, often without much planning. Nick Katz Samuel Knight Alicia Navarro Rob Elkin and many others! And they keep coming! Here's to the next four years!