How your Chief of Staff scope will depend on the stage of your company
Over the past few weeks, I’ve met a lot of people working in tech companies across the US and Europe who shared the same “Chief of Staff” title. My goal was to assess the differences between the various types of Chief of Staff.
I had several questions in mind when conducting this research:
- What’s the scope of a Chief of Staff?
- What makes a great Chief of Staff?
- What kind of background should a Chief of Staff have to be killing it?
- How much should you pay your Chief of Staff?
- How should they grow within a company?
I’ll cover all of these topics in a series of articles, but let’s focus on the first one now.
What is the scope of a Chief of Staff?
The Chief of Staff (CoS) is a vital role in any growing startup: the CoS is someone who works closely with the CEO to help them define, readjust and implement the strategy of the company. Their scope and responsibilities seem pretty similar from one company to another: they always involve a combination of Strategy, Operations, Communication, Recruiting, and Special Projects components. And yet, some important differences can be made: these mainly come from the stage of the company the Chief of Staff is operating in.
I identified three categories of Chief of Staff:
- The CEO Right hand — operates in early stage companies (seed, Series A). Someone who can wear a lot of hats and supports the CEO in a variety of topics where something needs to be built from scratch or where there is a lack of resource and manpower.
- The CEO Sounding board — operates in mid-stage companies (Series B, C). Someone who combines all information coming from the ‘Heads of’ and does not make any decision per se but actively helps in the decision-making process.
- The CEO Proxy — operates in late stage companies (Series D & E, IPO). Someone who has a deep understanding and knowledge of the company and the people working there.
How does this translate into their work? Based on my research, there are two distinctions to make:
1. The place of the Chief of Staff in a project:
- The CEO Right hand designs and builds things
- The CEO Sounding board structures and scales things
- The CEO Proxy revamps and strengthens things
2. The place of the Chief of Staff in the decision-making process:
- The CEO Right hand informs and can sometimes advise the CEO
- The CEO Sounding board advises and can sometimes influence the CEO
- The CEO Proxy influences and can sometimes make decisions in lieu of the CEO
Knowing which type of CoS you need can be crucial when searching for the perfect candidate. You need to make sure you’re hiring the right profile for the stage your company is currently in.
Want to learn more about the specificities of each category? Check the document I put together below:
If you have other thoughts, agree or disagree with my approach, I’d love to chat: sixtine@blitz-recruiting.com
