As GreenMellen has grown over the years, one of the challenges that Ali and I have faced is figuring out what our roles should be at various stages. Early on it was easy; she was the designer and I was the developer. Once those roles were filled by others, where did that leave us?
It’s a question that has no simple answer, and we’ve done different things over the years. In a recent episode of the “Founders” podcast, host David Senra shared this regarding Thomas Edison:
“Really, the way I think about a founder is like you’re developing skills that you can’t hire for. You’re gonna hire for everything else, but you shouldn’t be hireable. And Edison wasn’t.”
More specifically, Edison is quoted as saying:
“I can hire mathematicians, but they can’t hire me.”
Over time, I’ve worked to build skills are more valuable for the company, but also trickier to define. My role now consists of a bit of CFO, some HR, some sales, and various things to keep the company running smoothly. Ali has a very similar (yet very different) list of her own. That list of items changes quite a bit for both of us, as we hire out the hireable skills, and work to develop the more challenging ones.
Becoming someone who “isn’t hireable” is a bit nerve-racking, but is likely the best way to lead a company.
