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How to work as a CEO/COO team  

Sometimes, the best solutions are the simplest.

Joel Gascoigne:

I asked Leo to become COO in November last year. (...) The problem we found, was that it was almost impossible to clearly separate these two processes. If Leo was working with someone to try and set goals and keep to them, he inevitably had to make decisions which affected our direction.

It felt like with the new structure we were suddenly both involved in every decision. The goal of the new role for Leo was to speed things up, but with both of us discussing every decision, things were sometimes grinding to a halt, especially in cases where we didn't immediately agree.

The solution? Split the CEO responsibilities across the two roles, with each doing what they do best!

This may seem really simple in hindsight, but it's the kind of solution that's just not all that obvious when you're first going through it. The article is well worth a read.

More from the library:
Designing your sign-up pages
Productised services: #3: The best of both worlds
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