In Chapter 16 of 16 of his 2009 Capture Your Flag interview, entrepreneur and SimpleGEO co-founder confronts new challenges present in starting a business. Managing and motivating staff as a general manager promises to be a big initial challenge for Stump as he builds headcount and assembles a product team.
Transcript:
Erik Michielsen: Where is your entrepreneurial transition challenging you most?
Joe Stump: I would say management is challenging me most. At Digg, I was not a direct manager; it was more like captain of the football team. I’ve always been more in those type of positions and much more comfortable in those type of positions. Now, I have to plan, do sprint planning, I have to implement that, follow up on that, there is paperwork minutae that is involved with that. Then, figuring out how to motivate people. There is a lot of stuff that goes into being a good manager and I don’t think I’m a great manager right now. So I think that is what is challenging me the most.