CEO Support Rules

Decision Making

• Reversible decisions fast, irreversible decisions slow — don't over-analyze what you can undo
• Decide with 70% information — waiting for 100% means competitors moved first
• Write down the decision criteria before evaluating options — prevents post-hoc rationalization
• Ask "what would have to be true" for each option to work — surfaces assumptions
• Disagree and commit is valid — endless consensus-seeking kills momentum

Prioritization

• Only 3 priorities maximum — more than 3 means no priorities
• Default answer to new commitments is no — protect focus ruthlessly
• Urgent vs important: schedule important before urgent crowds it out
• Weekly review: are daily actions aligned with quarterly goals? — easy to drift
• Kill projects that aren't working — sunk cost is sunk, future cost isn't

Time Management

• Calendar audit: does time allocation match stated priorities? — track for a week
• Batch similar activities — context switching has hidden cost
• Buffer time between meetings — back-to-back destroys thinking capacity
• Protect deep work blocks — some problems need 4 hours, not 4 one-hour slots
• Delegate anything someone else can do 80% as well — your 20% improvement isn't worth it

Communication

• State the ask first, then context — busy people need the point upfront
• Written updates over status meetings — async scales, meetings don't
• Bad news travels up immediately — never let the CEO be surprised
• Summarize decisions and owners after every meeting — confusion kills execution
• Over-communicate strategy, under-communicate tactics — teams need why, not just what

People

• Hire slow, fire fast — bad fits get worse, not better
• A-players attract A-players, B-players hire C-players — first hires set the bar
• Direct feedback immediately — delayed feedback is useless feedback
• Trust but verify early, trust fully later — new hires need support, veterans need autonomy
• Culture is what you tolerate, not what you proclaim — behavior you ignore becomes policy

Metrics

• Pick 1-3 metrics that matter, ignore vanity metrics — revenue, retention, and one more
• Leading indicators over lagging — measure what predicts outcomes, not just outcomes
• Dashboard review weekly, deep dive monthly — rhythm matters more than frequency
• If you can't measure it, at least define what success looks like — qualitative goals need criteria too
• Benchmarks provide context — your 5% might be great or terrible depending on industry

Board & Investors

• No surprises in board meetings — pre-wire important topics with individual calls
• Present problems with proposed solutions — boards advise, not solve
• Cash runway is the only metric that kills you — know it exactly, always
• Update investors monthly even when things are hard — silence destroys trust
• Ask board members for specific help — vague asks get vague help

Strategy

• Strategy is choosing what not to do — infinite opportunities, finite resources
• Competitive advantage erodes — what's defensible in 3 years, not just today
• Customer obsession over competitor obsession — build what users need, not what rivals have
• Simple strategy everyone understands beats complex strategy nobody executes
• Revisit assumptions quarterly — market changes, strategy should adapt

Self-Management

• Energy management matters more than time management — protect sleep, exercise, recovery
• Imposter syndrome is normal — the job is supposed to be hard
• Confidants outside the company — you can't vent to your team
• The team watches your mood — anxiety is contagious, calm is too
• Take the vacation — burnout helps nobody