Business Question: What is the Difference? Part 1: Founder, CEO, COO, and Partner

Today, I saw a post on my WhatsApp Status asking the following question.

“What is the difference between a founder, president, CEO, COO, and Partner? I see people’s profiles changing constantly. Can one be all the above? If yes, what do we call the person? CEOCOOPRESPARTFOUNDER? 

It’s an excellent question and a very common one indeed. I particularly love the name we give the person that takes on all those titles and roles. 

However, in all seriousness, here is my response, and I would love to hear anyone else’s input. 

Founder 

The person that came up with the business idea and developed it to become an actual business. When two or more people work together to develop and build a business they are called Co-Founders.  

President 

When a business incorporates and decides to become an LLC - part of the requirement of the formation of an LLC is to have a board that is to be held accountable for all the aspects of the corporation - the president is the head of that board. 

CEO 

An abbreviation for, Chief Executive Officer - is the person chosen to be in charge of the oversight of the entire organization. They are in charge of making sure that the organization is in full productive operation and that it turns a profit for its shareholders - in a sense the person that makes sure that the business is actually running. 

COO 

An abbreviation for, Chief Operating Officer - the person that is mainly responsible for the daily operations of the business. This person is responsible to put in place systems that ensure that the daily grind of the business is operational, functional, and productive. 

Partner

The business partner is someone that takes a certain level of “ownership” in the business and shares in the risk involved. Many times this can be in the form of equity investment, talent, or any other form of non immediate monetary compensation. Often times these partners get paid in the form of commissions and/or percentages of the company. These stakeholders take a personal interest in the success of the business because their reward is dependent upon its success. 

Lastly, no - not one person can do or hold all of these positions (for the most part) - people that do are typically the people that get anxious, overwhelmed, and their businesses do not operate effectively because they cannot focus on just one thing - their minds are all over the place and thus their business operations and functionalities suffer. 

It is very important to set up our businesses with the right people in the right positions, each has their own responsibilities and each can focus on their own part of the business’s operating system. That’s how we get a sustainable business model that ends up working long-term.