---

Roles in a Startup

Creating a startup company is an ambitious undertaking that requires consideration of many factors, including finding the best people for critical roles. Learning the fundamental roles essential to a successful startup can help you determine who to hire. In this article, we will look at the most critical roles in a startup team and discuss some tips that will allow you to build a startup team successfully.

Crucial Roles in a Startup

A company's growth depends on many factors, but one of the most important is people. When building a team in your startup, you must pay attention to the experience and skills of your future employees and soft skills such as problem-solving, flexibility, and passion. Of course, specific roles depend on the startup's strategy. Still, several positions should be in every startup, regardless of the type and industry in which it operates.

• Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

The Chief Executive Officer is tasked with making important decisions regarding the company's operation and oversees the management of resources and the activities of all departments in the company. As a person representing the company, I also deal with primary communication activities with employees and management to ensure the company's vision and goals are clear and transparent.

A good CEO should have exceptional leadership skills and be able to motivate employees. High communication and interpersonal skills are essential for this position. The CEO must also be able to make difficult decisions quickly and adapt to unforeseen circumstances.

• Chief Operating Officer (COO)

The chief operating officer is responsible for overseeing the company's day-to-day operations. Due to his duties, he oversees the operations of all departments, including finance, recruitment, and business groups dealing with rights issues. As a supervisor, the COO provides the CEO with important information about current processes. It introduces employees to the company's bylaws and policies.

A good COO focuses on market analysis and indicators as the primary driver of his work. They use this information to track operational processes and create strategies to optimize processes for efficiency. He works closely with the chief operations officer.

He has high communication skills and knowledge of effectively cooperating with the heads of individual departments and with engineering and marketing teams.

• Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

The Chief Technology Officer manages the entire technological infrastructure and supervises all technological investments of the company. With a solid understanding of technology, the CTO can assess the organization's technology needs and make investments that can help the organization run efficiently.

In addition to in-depth technological knowledge, the CTO should also have analytical skills to understand how to improve the efficiency of technological operations. He must also have leadership and communication skills to work effectively with heads of other departments.

• Chief Marketing Officer (CMO)

The Chief Marketing Officer oversees and directs all marketing initiatives and activities within the company. This role requires extensive activities, including running advertising projects and building the company's brand. The CMO is also responsible for overseeing market research, preparing marketing communication strategies, making decisions regarding product pricing, and ensuring customer satisfaction. The CMO works closely with the product manager and marketing manager, evident due to their responsibilities, but also with the sales manager because a good CMO understands that cooperation between the marketing and sales team has a real impact on the company's market condition.

A good CMO is a talented leader who uses effective marketing tactics and strategies to improve the company's brand and customer base. He is characterized by excellent communication skills, thanks to which he can effectively manage the marketing department. It is also essential that he has developed analytical skills and can implement marketing campaigns and use available technologies to achieve his goals and strive to improve marketing initiatives.

• Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

The Chief Financial Officer oversees and manages the company's financial operations, crucial to its overall economic health. He creates strategies to improve the company's financial situation and solve economic problems. He plans financial initiatives, conducts risk management assessments, and thoroughly reviews the company's investments and commitments.

A good CFO knows financial law, business ethics, and risk management methods. An excellent Chief Financial Officer possesses problem-solving, leadership, organizational, communication, and analytical skills to perform their job effectively.

• Chief Sales Officer (CSO)

The Chief Sales Officer is the highest-ranking function in a company's sales department. He is responsible for directing and overseeing all sales activities. He leads a team of sales specialists and works with the marketing team to increase revenue through effective sales campaigns.

A good CSO not only has extensive sales experience but also has excellent analytical and management skills. He can solve problems quickly and effectively. He focuses on boosting team productivity because he understands it will bring the desired results, combined with a well-thought-out sales strategy.

• Business Development Manager

A Business Development Manager is a specialist who oversees the building and development of a business. It corresponds, among others, to planning the company's strategy, managing sales issues, and acquiring new customers.

A good business development manager needs to have strong communication skills because they work closely with various internal departments of the company and external clients. His responsibilities are focused on tasks and processes to develop the company and increase its revenues. Business development managers must have project management skills and multitask to simultaneously lead multiple business development projects and initiatives. They may also possess leadership skills to ensure effective management of other employees.

• Customer Success Manager

The Customer Success Manager manages customer relationships, including helping customers use products and services, encouraging them to improve their products to increase sales, and maintaining customer relationships. An important goal is also to improve the customer experience when contacting the company.

A good customer success manager should be focused on customer needs and have communication, interpersonal and marketing skills. It is also essential that he has leadership skills and takes proactive actions to ensure the satisfaction of his customers. Patience and the ability to actively listen are also necessary.

• Customer Service Manager

The Customer Service Manager supervises the work of the customer service department, takes care of the high level of services provided to customers, and tries to ensure that the quality of the services/goods offered is constantly improved.

Customer service is a crucial task for every, even the smallest, company. Building positive relationships with customers positively affects the customer experience and often determines whether the company will survive. You can have the world's best products or services, but your business's chances of success are slim if you don't provide the right level of customer service.

A good Customer Service Manager can understand customers and their needs. He must be communicative, empathetic, and open to quickly solving customer problems.

Summary

The above positions are crucial in every company. Still, in the case of a startup that is just trying to enter the market, they are necessary. However, people in these positions must have the necessary knowledge and business experience.

Of course, at the very beginning of their activity, startups are only sometimes able to employ all these specialists, but as the company develops, the startup owner notices areas that should be taken care of by a high-class specialist.

Thanks to the knowledge about the scope of duties of individual specialists, it will be easier for you to decide which specialist to hire first.