Varun Raghu

What it means to lead an early stage startup

Never underestimate what it takes to lead even small teams of 3-5 people.

When I was first tasked with leading our startup, I was in a very weird place. Firstly imposter syndrome was in full force. Was I fit to lead our team? It was a role I had to get used to - we never had a formal structure within our small team till that point.

I messed up so many times. I thought I had to do everything, I thought my output must be greater than everyone else’s. Leading by example as they say. I thought every decision I made had to be right. At one point I was scared to make any decision at all. I just wanted to throw it all away and run.

It was a deeply spiritual experience where I learnt many things about myself. Your little relationship and communication flaws will be 10x ed in a startup.

Now I know that my role is to be wrong. I just need to have the humility to admit that I was wrong. My co-founders never once said I was wrong after the fact. They’d vehemently disagree before making a decision never after. (They are amazing guys, and I’m utterly convinced that you cannot build a company solo. You need a team.)

It was all me, I was the one beating myself up. It’s not about me doing all the tasks, I just need to decide which ones are worth doing. Always knowing that I may pick the wrong ones.

So if you are someone like me, early in the journey suddenly having to lead. Forgot all the glam CEO stuff (also please don’t call yourself CEO!) you are not a visionary, you are just a guy or a gal who will make plenty of mistakes. You will piss off your teammates, but talk to them, it’s okay to be vulnerable. They too know it’s your first time doing this. Be kind to yourself.