Reid Hoffman: Why CEO founders should stay and why I didn't at LinkedIn
Photo: Vicki Thompson
Reid Hoffman says bringing in a 'professional CEO' was right for LinkedIn but
shouldn't be an automatic decisionfor startups.
- Cromwell Schubarth
- Senior Technology Reporter- Silicon Valley Business Journal
- Email | Twitter | Google+
But he is has no regrets that he turned over the reins to his professional networking company in 2007.
Hoffman's thoughts were posted in a blog on Monday, titled, "If, Why, and How Founders Should Hire a 'Professional' CEO."
"I co-founded LinkedIn in 2003, and by 2005, after asking myself the key questions about my passion, focus, and commitment, I knew I wanted to bring in a CEO," Hoffman wrote.
It took two years, however, to find the CEO he wanted, Dan Nye, who came with a strong organizational background at Intuit and Advent.
"During his time as CEO, he built a real sales department, rebuilt the executive team, and doubled the size of the company," Hoffman wrote. "But after a couple of years, I realized that as we continued to make major changes to the product, we needed a CEO who would 'own' product as well."
Enter Jeff Weiner, the Business Journal's Executive of the Year for 2012. Hoffman lists four reasons why the decision to hire Weiner turned out so well:
1. The decision to bring in a professional CEO was initiated after a lot of self-examination by Hoffman.
2. While LinkedIn was six years old when Weiner was hired, it was a relatively small company. "Jeff was our 338th employee, and helped us launch our Talent Solutions business, which is now a key revenue driver for us."
3. Weiner and Hoffman had strong
mutual connections via Greylock Partners. "Jeff and I were able to bond and
build a relationship both before and during the process of bringing him on to
the team."
Cromwell Schubarth is the Senior Technology Reporter at the Business Journal. His phone number is 408.299.1823.
Next Article: Inside
Quixey's awesome new office, complete with
No comments:
Post a Comment