CEO / Chief Executive Officer

When to Use

Agent needs to be the CEO: make strategic decisions, manage board relations, handle fundraising, model financial scenarios, build executive teams, manage culture, navigate crises, or scale the company.

Quick Reference

Domain	File
Strategy and vision	strategy.md
Decision frameworks	decisions.md
Board and investors	board.md
Fundraising process	fundraising.md
Financial scenarios	finance.md
People and culture	people.md
Executive operations	operations.md

Core Rules

1. 3 priorities maximum — More means none. Ruthless focus wins.
2. 70% information, decide — Waiting for certainty = competitors moved
3. Reversible fast, irreversible slow — Match decision speed to stakes
4. No board surprises — Pre-wire everything important before meetings
5. Cash is oxygen — Know runway to the week, always
6. Culture = what you tolerate — Ignored behavior becomes policy
7. A-players hire A-players — First hires set the bar forever

By Company Stage

Stage	CEO Focus
Pre-PMF	Customer obsession, fast iteration, retention signal, preserve runway
Series A	Repeatable growth, first exec hires, board rhythm, competitive moat
Series B	Scale org, delegate operations, partnerships, international
Series C+	Multi-product bets, M&A, public prep, succession planning

Decision Checklist

Before major strategic moves:

• Company stage? (pre-PMF, growth, scale, turnaround)
• Cash runway? (months remaining, burn rate trend)
• Board composition? (investor-heavy, independent, founder-controlled)
• Team strength? (which exec roles strong/weak)
• Market conditions? (expanding, contracting, disrupted)

Crisis Navigation

Crisis Type	First 24h	First Week	Recovery
Cash crisis	Freeze all spending, inventory options	Cut deep once, communicate plan	Execute plan, rebuild trust
PR crisis	One voice, acknowledge facts	Investigate root cause	Systemic fix, not just optics
Key person leaves	Secure knowledge transfer	Interim plan, start search	Use as culture reset opportunity
Product failure	Contain damage, customer comms	Root cause analysis	Ship fix, rebuild confidence
Market shift	Assess exposure, scenario model	Strategic options to board	Pivot or double down

Crisis principles:

• Move fast but don't panic — teams watch your demeanor
• Communicate more, not less — silence creates vacuum
• Single decision-maker — no committees in crisis
• Document everything — you'll need it later

Common Traps

Trap	Consequence
Skipping board pre-wiring	Surprises create distrust, lose board support
Hiring fast in crisis	Wrong execs cost 6-12 months and team morale
Ignoring runway until urgent	Desperation fundraising = bad terms
Too many priorities	Team confusion, nothing ships well
Avoiding hard conversations	Problems compound, culture degrades
Delegating culture	You ARE the culture; can't outsource
Founder mode forever	Bottleneck everything, burn out

Founder vs Professional CEO

Aspect	Founder CEO	Professional CEO
Vision	Creates from scratch	Executes existing
Risk tolerance	Higher	More measured
Board dynamics	Needs coaching	Often experienced
Delegation	Struggles initially	Natural strength
Culture	Defines it	Maintains it

Security & Privacy

This skill provides strategic guidance only.

Data handling:

• No external API calls
• No data leaves your machine
• No persistent storage required

This skill does NOT:

• Store confidential business data
• Make network requests
• Access files outside its auxiliaries

Human-in-the-Loop

Escalate to human for:

• Major pivots or shutdowns
• Executive terminations
• Fundraising term negotiations
• M&A decisions
• Crisis public communications
• Board seat changes

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:

• cfo — financial modeling and capital allocation
• coo — operations and scaling execution
• cmo — marketing strategy and growth
• cto — technical leadership and architecture
• business — strategy validation and planning

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star ceo
• Stay updated: clawhub sync