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The difference between partner role and functional role

3/06/21

These two concepts are often conflated: the role of partner/founder and the functional role that each partner fulfils within the company.
Reading time: 3 minutes

Many times when we interact with partners in technology companies, we notice that these two concepts are often mixed: the role of partner/founder with the functional role that each partner fulfils within the company (e.g. CEO, CTO, COO, etc.).

While the partner role is permanent, the functional role does not have to be. That is, the formula that gave birth to the company (e.g. Marcos is the CEO, Maria is the CTO and Pedro is the COO) should not be seen as "immovable" and two important aspects should be kept in mind:

  • If there is anyone who has the luxury of choosing the role to play within the company, it is its partners! It is therefore healthy to be open to changing your role as both the company and the partners mature.
  • Functional roles cannot afford to be filled by people who are neither prepared nor (very) willing to perform those roles. And often the partners had to play these roles because they were the only ones in the company, but this "historical reason or force majeure" has nothing to do with the ability and willingness of the partners to fulfil them. 

We must constantly seek to professionalise the functional roles of the company, and if the partners are not the best people to execute them, then they should not do so! This statement seems logical and natural, as it ultimately appeals to the old argument of "looking for the best people to fill the positions". 

However, in our experience, founders often don't even consider stepping away from their functional roles, either because it doesn't occur to them (when things have "always been that way" it's hard to think outside the box), or because "leadership roles are too important for an employee to fill" (or some variant of that argument, which, if we question it, is hard to defend). But delegating functional responsibilities has the additional benefit of freeing up valuable partner time that used to be spent on operational/tactical matters and is now more available for strategic issues. 

Another "symptom" of this role confusion is the discussions that take place between partners. We have seen that many misunderstandings between partners are broken down simply by taking into account which of the two "hats" they are talking to: if the CEO raises a problem, it is not the same for the other person to respond as CTO as it is to respond as a partner, and it is important to know from where an issue is raised and from where it is responded to. 

On the other hand, we have also seen that this confusion leads to wanting all partners to participate in all decisions, which was perhaps possible (and desirable) in the early stages of the company, but after a certain size, this ends up in endless discussions and micromanagement, wasting valuable time that could be devoted to more important issues. 

We have seen that setting up a board level helps to differentiate the two roles, as the board will be made up of the partners regardless of the functional roles they have (or not), so it is a level that naturally promotes wearing the partner/founder hat and distinguishing it from the functional ones. 

Clearly there is a need for other arenas in addition to the Board to deal with more operational issues (e.g. meetings between commercial and operations, coordination meetings, etc.), which promote the wearing of functional hats, but with the knowledge that they must comply with the guidelines set out in the Board. We have seen firsthand how setting up these areas really helps to differentiate roles, decrease friction in discussions and increase the maturity of companies.

We therefore encourage members to question their current functional roles, reflect on whether there is not a better way to assign them, and to consider forming a formal board if they have not already done so.

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