If there’s one thing that’s easy to notice these days, it’s the number of big startups headed by relatively inexperienced tech CEOs. It feels like every day, someone gets lucky with their idea, makes it big, but then burns down their ship through bad decision-making.
Who would have thought that running a successful company involves more than just good ideas? The fact is that administration is an aspect of every company that many new tech CEOs tend to overlook.
If you see that in yourself or are hoping to start your own company and don’t want to make some avoidable mistakes, read on.
Key Takeaways
- Many inexperienced CEOs underestimate the administrative work needed for a successful company, often focusing on flashy ideas like AI integration.
- Investing in quality IT support and cybersecurity is crucial, as many businesses face increasing vulnerabilities and risks.
- CEOs struggle to make tough decisions and often continue failing projects instead of cutting losses, which can stem from indecision.
- Successful leadership requires strong administrative skills; learning from mistakes can prevent becoming a bottleneck in your company’s growth.
Table of contents
#1. Underestimating the Work Behind “Cool Ideas”
The most obvious scenario for this point is the obsession with AI tools. The C-suite has the luxury of coming up with or approving interesting ideas, regardless of how unfeasible they are to make a reality. So many tech CEOs now believe that their firm should integrate AI and use it more often.
However, as data from the Pew Research Center shows, only 19% of workers said that ‘some’ of their work is being done with AI. For the “all” or “most” work dimensions, it was just 2%, meaning no changes between 2024 and 2025. Essentially, despite the fear around AI in the workforce, we’re seeing that, in reality, most workers don’t really benefit that much.
Yet, many CEOs tend to ignore the ground reality and refuse to listen to their workers. They know it would be a cool talking point if “AI increased efficiency by 50%,” but aren’t willing to see what that would entail. It could involve a complete restructuring of the entire workplace, throw a spanner into current priorities, and come with massive risks.
#2. Not Willing to Invest in Good IT Support or Cybersecurity
IBM highlights data that showed that in 2023, there were over 29,000 vulnerabilities in IT ecosystems. Likewise, by mid-2024, they had identified another 27,500 vulnerabilities. They note that key reasons for these striking numbers are the increased complexity of IT systems, open-source software, and rapid code development.
The reality is that IT threats do not discriminate. Take the cyber incident that affected the Milwaukee Police Department’s drug trafficking unit last year. Their website was the victim of an “internet hack,” according to a spokesman from the department.
No doubt, regular businesses in the region were quick to find services for IT support in Milwaukee upon witnessing this. If someone could take down the website of a police department, they could easily do the same to random businesses.
As The Office Technology Group explains, any good IT support should include a multi-layered cybersecurity approach to protect your critical assets. Unfortunately, many leaders only understand this when it’s too late.
#3. Tech CEOs’ Inability to Kill Projects
Similar to our first point, a lot of leaders have cool ideas and projects that they become attached to. Unfortunately, when you’re a leader, you also need to know when it’s time to pull out. This is where many tech CEOs fumble. They continue on and on with a doomed project, hoping it will start producing results soon.
They aren’t able to tell when it’s time to pull out or simply lack the stomach to see a lot of work go to waste. Oftentimes, these issues can be traced back to one of the most fundamental aspects of business leadership: decision-making. In this context, the aspect to focus on is indecision.
As research shows, intolerance of uncertainty is a key factor when it comes to indecisiveness in decision-making. Apparently, intolerance of uncertainty creates a self-reinforcing loop where attempts to reduce uncertainty often worsen the indecisiveness.
Thus, if you’re going to be running any kind of tech company, start getting used to making tough decisions like this. You’ll certainly need to make a lot of them every year.
Everyone makes mistakes in their first leadership roles. Even giants like Steve Jobs have made terrible mistakes, like bringing in John Sculley to run Apple. Eventually, Jobs was removed by Sculley in 1985, only to return to the company he co-founded in 1997. As Jobs noted, “He destroyed everything I spent 10 years working for.”
The point here is that if it can happen to the best, it can happen to anyone. This is why, if you haven’t yet thought about your administrative skills, now would be the time. With so much access to knowledge today, there’s no reason to let poor administrative skills become a bottleneck in your leadership.
