We Need an Individual Contributor Track for Founders

Three and a half years ago, my startup was going downhill, and so was I. We were bleeding cash, struggling to break into new markets, and my habit of anxious fasting had shed 20 pounds from my already slender frame. After putting my daughter to bed, I would spend my weekday evenings in the bathtub, a temporary sanctuary from looming business problems.

“Know thyself,” goes the ancient Greek maxim. In hindsight, I should have known that I was not cut out to serve as CEO of a growth-stage, Series B company—one that desperately needed proper management, financial acumen and the experience to call out BS when it presented itself. I was—and am—an engineer and tinkerer at heart.