Reboot Podcast Episode Extras #22 – Scaling as a Technical Founder & CEO – with Evan Drumwright

The Reboot podcast showcases the heart and soul, the wins and losses, the ups and downs of startup leadership. On the show, Entrepreneurs, CEO’s, and Startup Leaders discuss with Jerry Colonna the emotional and psychological challenges they face daily as leaders.

Extras 22 // June 20, 2023

Guests

Evan Drumwright

Evan Drumwright

CEO of Dextrous Robotics

View Bio

Episode Description

Being a technical founder poses particular challenges to scaling in your role as CEO. Scaling a company is challenging. Leading through that scale as your role as CEO is also constantly changing adds to the waves of change that a leader must move through on the arc of growth.

In this podcast conversation, Andy Crissinger sits down with Evan Drumwright, CEO of Dextrous Robotics. Evan reflects on his transition from academia to entrepreneurship and describes the unique challenges of scaling a company as a technical founder. He speaks to the transitions he’s made, what’s worked for him and what hasn’t, and shares how he’s able to find personal fulfillment as a CEO.

Show Highlights

Top Quotes:

“Being a professor you wear a lot of hats and…I felt the work-life balance was really poor. You don’t really have enough time to do quality work, so I was doing so many things but not that many of them well.” – Evan Drumwright

“I was preparing to raise funds and I was also working on the code for our first proof of concept. And the combination of those two things, knowing I was responsible for both of those, just ended up putting a lot of pressure on me.” – Evan Drumwright

“I’ve since figured out a few things. Like, what’s the right kind of stuff for me to work on? As CEO, you should not be working on anything that is on the critical path for something that the business needs.” – Evan Drumwright

“I am the steward for this whole organization that I’m building and as long as I am in that role, then I’m going to do what’s best for that organization which may even include getting rid of myself.” – Evan Drumwright

“I’m always thinking, what is my role? What is my responsibility to the company? And so that’s, typically, how my week is organized. I prioritize things and say, how can I add the most value to this company, this organization, right now?” – Evan Drumwright

“The body is giving me so many cues from my subconscious and those cues are really useful.” – Evan Drumwright

“As CEO, once I’m spending a significant portion of my time doing something, then it’s time to figure out how to delegate that role.” – Evan Drumwright