Alisa Cohn - From Start-Up to Grown-Up - Grow Your Leadership to Grow Your Business

From Start-Up to

Grown-Up

Grow Your Leadership to Grow Your Business Alisa Cohn

PRAISE FOR FROM START-UP TO

GROWN-UP

As a former start-up founder, I know firsthand how difficult the journey is from founder to CEO. Luckily, entrepreneurs now have an indispensable guidebook. From Start-Up to Grown-Up is a great read filled with excellent insights.

Maxine Clark, Founder and former CEO of Build-a-BearWorkshop, and board director

This book is a breakthrough and should be essential reading for anyone who is ready to lead and to make a difference. Highly recommended.

Seth Godin, author of This is Marketing

Start-up founder to CEO is a big stretch along the entrepreneurial path. Read this useful, tough-love guidebook and you will understand why Alisa Cohn is such a sought-after start-up coach.

Eric Schurenberg, CEO of Inc.and Fast Company

Alisa Cohn is the number one start-up coach in the world and reading FromStart-Up to Grown-Up feels like getting coached by her directly. It will help you build your start-up into a world-class company.

Marshall Goldsmith, Worlds #1 CEO Coach and Thinkers50 #1

Leadership Thinker in the World

Being a start-up CEO is lonely, and the more successfully you grow your company, the lonelier it gets. Alisa Cohns From Start-Up to Grown-Up offers friendly frameworks that will help any start-up founders and all leaders navigate that path with grace.

Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor

From Start-Up to Grown-Up is a treasure trove for company leaders of all stripes. It is rich with Alisa Cohns years of battle-tested wisdom and

sparkles with her warmth and humanity. Every start-up founder should invest in a copy.

Nir Eyal, bestselling author of Hookedand Indistractable

The Miami tech movement has been born and bred out of an inno vative and collaborative spirit. From Start-Up to Grown-Up is an incredible resource to help the founders who are building our eco system grow as their companies scale.

Francis Suarez, Mayor of Miami

Finally, I have a comprehensive resource I can give to all aspiring entrepreneurs. Everything you need is in From Start-Up to Grown-Up, including the templates which are so valuable on their own!

Mo Bunnell, author of The Snowball System

Alisa Cohns book provides a blueprint for becoming a better leader. Its not just about start-ups or CEOsevery leader will find bits of wisdom in here! I only wish I had the opportunity to read it sooner in my career.

Andrey Akselrod, Cofounder of Smartling and CTO of People.ai Alisa Cohn wrote the guidebook for defining your own personal operating manual for CEOs. I wish I read this before starting my company. This is a gold mine of resources for every founder to win, and win the right way.

Mert Iseri, Founder and CEO of SwipeSence

From Start-Up to

Grown-Up

Grow Your Leadership to Grow Your Business Alisa Cohn

CONTENTS

Foreword by Randy Komisar

PART ONE Managing You

01 Your Start-Up Self

Who Do You Think You Are?

What Is Your Job Actually?

How Do You Show Up?

Your Best Tool Is a Mirror

A Leadership Style All Your Own

All You Have to Do Is Ask

What You Might Learn When You Ask

02 Be the Boss of You

How to Deal with Your Demons

How to Be Your Own Best Friend

When It Gets to Be Too Much, Get Help

How to Maintain the Most Valuable AssetYou The Best Way to Get Through Your Day

How to Get It Done When You Cant Get It All Done It Takes a Village

PART TWO Managing Them

03 Why Should Anyone Follow You?

How to Create Safe Space

Praise Is Your Secret Superpower

Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say

Its Not Better When You Do It Yourself 04 Cultural Conceptions (and Misconceptions) News Flash: You Already Have a Culture

Unintended Toxic Cultures and How They Got That Way Creating the Culture You Want

Whats It All About? Purpose and Meaning

You Built It. Culture Will Help You Grow It 05 Hiring and Firing

Hiring the Right Way

You Hired Them. Now Help Them Start Strong When You Have to Part Ways

Its Not Easy to Tell Someone Theyre Not Doing Their Job. But Thats Your Job

Downsizing with Dignity

PART THREE Managing the Company

06 Growing and Growing Up

Getting the Right People Person

Structure Is Sexy

Whats a Manager to Do?

So Why Do You Need HR?

Your Job Changes Too

07 Smooth Operations

What to Measure and How

Cash Is King for a Reason

Learn to Love Dashboards

Take Stock of Your People

Goals Are Rocket Fuel

Your Systems Set You Free

The Magic of Meetings

08 Managing the Board

A Field Guide to Board Members

Take Charge of Your Board

Boards Are People Too

The Basics of Your Board Meetings

How to Manage a Prickly Board Director

The Work Is in You. Again

09 Cofounder Care and Feeding

The Flavors of Cofounder Conflict

The Cofounder Prenup

Trust Is the Foundation

Talk About Goals and Values. Repeatedly

Decide Who Does What

Talk Straight to Each Other

What to Do When Your Cofounder Cant Keep Up 10 Your New Workplace

How to Get the Faces on Zoom to Trust Each Other Help Your People Get Personal, Remotely

Help Your Team Stay Mentally Fit

Keep Communication Flowing

How to Hire (Remotely) Right

Making New Hires Stick, Remotely

Structure Is Still Sexy

Conclusion

Sample Scripts for Delicate SituationsAbout the Author

Acknowledgments

Index

FOREWORD

When Alisa asked me to add my two cents to her book, I can only assume it was with some trepidation. We had met at my local coffee house cum office a couple of years ago and had a delightful conversation. I was immediately drawn to her insights, honesty, warmth, and positive energy. We became friends and have discussed various issues about coaching and CEO

development ever since. She knows that I am not convinced that every entrepreneur needs to or even should try to be a great CEO.

My opinion is based upon a simple observation. Managers and business leaders are trained by the dozen in business schools and large corporations.

They are available for the picking. True entrepreneurs, on the other hand, are as rare as hens teeth. If I had to choose between struggling to develop a CEO out of a brilliant entrepreneur or backing their next venture, I know where I come out. My mentor, friend, cofounder, and coach, the great Bill Campbell, used to say, You cant coach height. Buddhists point out you cant create a mirror by polishing a stone.

Alisa says it well later in the book: your company needs a CEO, but you dont need to be that CEO. Regardless, the most dynamic, impactful ventures tend to have founder CEOs who continue to revitalize the business with their vision while also managing its performance. I always tell people that the biggest risks I take when investing in a new venture come on the day I write the check and the day I have to replace the founder with a CEO. I prefer that the second day never comes.