My business partner and I co-founded the company and have always shared the ultimate decision-making power. We are designing our Accountability Chart for a future exit, but we both want to sit in the co-CEO seat. How do we break this up so we don't confuse our team and ruin our operational efficiency?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

There is no such thing as a co-CEO on an exit-ready Accountability Chart. One of the most fundamental rules of the chart is that only one name can occupy a seat. Having two names in the top seat creates massive confusion for your leadership team, slows down decision-making, and signals to potential buyers that your organization is plagued by political gridlock.

To resolve this, you must separate the Visionary and Integrator functions. These are two distinct seats. Typically, one co-founder is better suited to the Visionary seat, focusing on long-range strategy, big deals, and culture. The other co-founder is better suited to the Integrator seat, managing the daily operations, metrics, and execution.

Run a strict GWC™ evaluation on both of yourselves for both seats. Be honest about your strengths and passions. If you both want to be the Visionary, you must decide who will take the seat and who will move to a board-level position or a different strategic seat, such as head of product.

If you cannot agree on who sits where, you have an issue that must be resolved using the IDS® process in your next meeting. Leaving two names in one seat is not an option if you want to scale and successfully sell the business.