Dear SaaStr: What’s Really So Great About Being CEO? | SaaStr

It’s a really, really, really hard job.  And yes, while some day the compensation can be significant, in the early days, your actually often one of the lowest paid folks.

But:

• You never have to work for an idiot.
• You never have to work for someone that doesn’t appreciate you.
• You get a shot at building an amazing team that can just execute at the highest level at which you’ve ever worked at, and you can all do it together, at a team.  A team you want to really be a part of.  There’s no other way to assemble a team like this, not really.
• You get to be friends with, and interact at a unique level, with other, and great, CEOs.  Over the long term, this is really rewarding.
• You never have to look over your shoulder, if you do it right.
• You get to really own something.

Still:

• It’s 50x harder than you can imagine.  At least.
• It’s all your fault.
• You can’t really ever let them see you sweat.
• You’ll almost fail multiple times until you are unstoppable, and this is really, really, really hard.
• You’ll never have a real mental break, ever.  Never.  Not if you are a great CEO.
• It may take a real toll on your family.  And your health.
• Whatever glory there is in the role, you won’t enjoy that part, not really, not much.  At least not for a really long time.
• It will permanently change you.

A bit more here:

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