Most Important Skills for a CEO at Blue Dot Motorworks
As CEO of a small startup, Tom's daily responsibilities blend CEO and Chief Product and Technology Officer roles, focusing on "enunciating the core values" and long-term strategy while also juggling crucial team building and fundraising. A significant portion of Tom's time is dedicated to product architecture development, aiming to create a "compelling, cost-effective product" aligned with the company's climate-focused mission.
Executive/Leadership, Teamwork, Fundraising, Product Development, Strategic Planning
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Tom Gurski
CEO
Blue Dot Motorworks
MIT 1999
N/A
Engineering - Mechanical
Automotive & Auto Parts
Entrepreneurship and Business Owner
Took Out Loans
Video Highlights
1. A CEO's main responsibilities include enunciating core company values, aligning mission with values, creating long-term strategy, and team building.
2. Fundraising is a significant, albeit less enjoyable, aspect of a CEO's role in a startup.
3. In smaller startups, CEOs often wear multiple hats, such as combining CEO and Chief Product and Technology Officer (CPTO) roles, which involves product architecture development and creating cost-effective products that align with the company's mission.
Transcript
What are your main responsibilities within your current role?
My title is CEO, but as a very small startup, everybody wears a lot of hats. I'm kind of split between CEO and C PTO, Chief Product and Technology Officer.
As CEO, I believe the most important roles are enunciating the company's core values, ensuring our mission aligns with those values, and creating the long-term strategy to best achieve that mission.
Team building is probably the second most important role. It takes a village to make anything happen, and getting the right people involved is crucial.
An almost unfortunate side of being CEO is fundraising. A good chunk of my time is spent on this, and it's my least favorite aspect. However, if you can't get the money, you can't make progress.
On the C PTO side, the core function is developing product architectures that create a compelling, cost-effective product for customers. This needs to serve the top-down mission of providing a needed tool in our climate change toolbox.