In a bit of pickle with the investors for a startup I work at – advice needed
I am by no means flawless, I know what I'm good at and what I'm not good at, but he's criticising me on my area of expertise and shutting my ideas down that I know could work for us. There's a reason I have my CXO role and he's the CEO - he's great with investors and the face outwards which is just what the investors happen to see, but internally he's a mess and completely incompetent from running our business.
We just received a round 3 funding from our investors and I sense that the investors aren't happy with our performance. Things are going okay, but they're obviously expecting more. Just this week one of investors asked me (and me alone) if we could grab lunch next week - I have a feeling they'll ask me about our lack of progress and the synergy with the other co-founders and I'm not sure how honest I should be. I want to tell them that our ceo is completely incompetent and that we're getting nowhere because he's a giant asshole who refuses to collaborate, but I also don't wanna throw him under the bus and completely ruin the ties with the investors because one day I want to jump ship and I wanna leave on a good note.
How honest should I be with the investor(s)?
The direct response to this is to point out that he was responsible for a large delay in executing the idea and it is not a minor mistake if it takes him that long to understand its impact. Pointing out the impact on the company, an irrefutable common value, is much harder to dismiss.
Just my personal experience, dealing with narcisissts in general require the cold and discipined approach. If they refuse to reciprocate social graces then the only option is to argue from common reality.
Not sure what to suggest about your upcoming lunch meeting but if my advice makes any sense it might be better for you to take a diplomatic stance and continue tough it out against your cofounders.
You are in a no-win situation, other than preserving your equity. Any short term victory vs the CEO will be short lived. "Win the battle-Lose the war..." The war here is to walk away with your sweat equity in the company. Being nice, or making someone else be "nice" is not a win.
It's not about being nice - I just want to be professional and not considered as someone who just rats people out.
Being set up sounds a bit extreme but I appreciate the post, thanks