Not everyone can cut it as a CEO. The long days and countless decisions can sometimes be a little too much and often lead to stress that should be avoided. CTech has spoken to a collection of CEOs from startups who have shared some of the lessons they learned along their journeys to the top.
What was your strongest feeling when becoming CEO? Anxiety? Excitement?
“After we secured our Seed round, I was fortunate to have full support from our investors to take decisions and lead the company to growth,” remembers Gabay. “That was a big responsibility. Also, It was very exciting to pursue our dreams. We started before AmazonGo existed, and what we were doing at the time was groundbreaking in that it would reshape the way we shopped. Even stronger than this excitement though was the sense of mission. Once we got our first investment, we felt a greater sense of responsibility. We needed to shift our focus from following our dreams to building a strong team to deliver on our promise.”
Do you think there is a difference between being a CEO in tech vs. other sectors?
“First, being a leader is being a leader in every space and every domain,” said Orad. “However, the one thing that is very different in technology today is the pace of change. Managing through high pace, high velocity of innovation, constant changes, and disruption is different and more complex than other domains. You need to have higher domain expertise to survive in this market than potentially other markets, given the depth and impact technology has on all of us.”
Eilat-Raichel: “The one thing I can say is that I’m very lucky to be surrounded by the best, most committed, inspiring, and talented people every single day, and I’m not sure that’s necessarily the case everywhere else. Of course, it also has to do with the levels of compensation that we’re able to attract the best available talent, but I think it also has to do with the fact the tech tends to attract people who look for something beyond just work. Everyone at Sorbet is extremely passionate about our mission and building this company together, and it’s truly one of my greatest pleasures in life to be a part of that.”
“Being the CEO of a unique nonprofit that works with the tech world, teaches entrepreneurship, and builds ventures with teenagers at the periphery, allows me to adopt best practices from both worlds,” added Bechor. “Our KPIs are different in their core. Our impact has short and long-term measurements that focus on social change and human capital development.”