Why I Fired Myself from the Company I Founded
This isn’t the typical CEO eulogy.
How do you explain to someone that you no longer want to be the CEO of the company you founded? How do you even admit it to yourself? For the last couple of months I’ve been doing a lot of practicing:
Eating lunch with my board, I blurted out, “I don’t want to be CEO.” They nodded their heads gravely as they chewed their shawarma.
“I’m dying.” I told my co-founders over dinner. They paused for a punchline. “And next week I’m no longer going to be the CEO at Cut.” They looked concerned. “I’m not actually dying. I just wanted to soften the blow.” We had just come off our best month at the end of our best year.
“You’re not dying?”
“No.”
“Well I’m glad you’re not dying.”
I nodded my head. Well, we’re all dying. I thought. But now’s not the time to be pedantic.
Most recently, I explained what was happening in an impromptu all hands meeting while Bryan Adams’s Heaven played over our SONOS. Afterwards, we had tacos from Barrio Luchador.
Saying goodbye, I am both relieved and depressed. My wife is a therapist. She says that even though I wanted this, I…
