The Visionary / Implementer Split
List what you're great at, list what you hate, then hire someone who loves the second list.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 93%
Scudamore wore every hat up to roughly a million — maybe a couple of million — in revenue, then hit the wall: there were things he hated doing and things he was simply bad at, and as the owner he was 'in my own way.' In 2008, after removing a COO who wasn't a fit after 14 months, his franchise owners told him bluntly he wasn't the guy to take it to the next level — they were there for his vision, but he couldn't execute them out of the situation. So he made two explicit lists: what he was great at and loved, and everything the business needed that he was bad at or disliked. Then he interviewed 75 CEO candidates before hiring Eric Church. Together they took the company from $100M to over $400M.
Origin
In 2008, a COO who'd been a bad fit exited after 14 months and Scudamore's franchise owners confronted him: 'Brian, what are you doing here? You just got rid of a COO. You're not the guy to take it to the next level. We're here because of your vision, but you can't execute us out of this situation.'
Core principles
- 01Owning the company doesn't make you the best at any job in it.
- 02Most businesses need both a visionary and an implementer — rarely the same person.
- 03The founder is often the bottleneck: 'I was in my own way.'
- 04Write the two lists honestly — what you love and are great at, what you're bad at or hate.
- 05Hire deep on the executive search; volume of candidates is the quality lever.
How to run it
- 1
Notice the drain signal
Track which work leaves you drained and which energises you. Scudamore's trigger: 'I started to realize there's things I hated to do, there's things I wasn't good at.'
- 2
Kill the owner-is-best-at-everything myth
State it explicitly: 'as the owner of the company it doesn't mean that you're the best at everything — usually far from it.' Until you concede this, you'll keep defending the hats you shouldn't wear.
Watch out Founders often only accept this after a franchise partner, board, or team says it to their face.
- 3
Write the two lists
Physically make a list. 'What am I great at, what do I love to do in a business. On the other side, what are all the things I'm bad at that a business still needs, or that I don't like to do.' The second list is your hire spec.
Pro tip Ask what nobody can do better than you — that's the boundary of list A.
- 4
Name your archetype
Decide which you are. Scudamore is unambiguous: 'I'm not great at execution. I've done it but it's not my deal. I want to be the idea person, I want to look for new brands, I want to find great franchise partners.'
- 5
Search at volume for the complement
Do not settle after three interviews. Scudamore interviewed 75 CEO candidates before finding Eric Church — the volume was what surfaced the right leader for him specifically, not just a competent operator.
Pro tip You're hiring a fit with YOU, not an abstractly great executive — hence the volume.
Watch out A bad executive fit is expensive: Scudamore's previous COO lasted 14 months and cost him credibility with his franchise owners.
- 6
Hand over list B and stay in your niche
Once the implementer is in, actually let go. 'If you focus on what you love to do and what you're best at, stay in that niche — that's how you really grow and scale an awesome business.'
In the wild
After his franchise owners told him he couldn't execute the company to the next level, Scudamore listed what he was great at versus what the business needed that he wasn't, and went looking for the complement. He interviewed 75 CEO candidates before hiring Eric Church, and then withdrew from operations to focus on vision, new brands, and franchise partners.
→ Church has been in the seat eight years and together they took the company from $100M to over $400M in revenue — with Scudamore hoping he'll stay forever.
Common mistakes
Wearing every hat past a few million in revenue
Scudamore wore them all to about $1-2M, then became the constraint. Past that point the hats you're bad at aren't scrappiness, they're a growth cap.
Settling on the first plausible executive
His first COO lasted 14 months and damaged his standing with franchise owners. The 75-candidate search that followed is the correction — fit with the founder is the variable, and it takes volume to find.
Hiring the implementer and then not letting go
The point of the two lists is that list B leaves entirely. A founder who hires a CEO and keeps meddling in execution reinstates the bottleneck they just paid to remove.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders past a few million in revenue whose company needs execution discipline they can't personally supply.
Not ideal for
Very early-stage founders who genuinely cannot afford an executive hire and must still wear all the hats.
From the transcript
“I wore every hat in my company up till a million in revenue, maybe even up to a couple of million, and then I started…”
“I said okay, what am I good at. I made a list. What am I great at, what do I love to do in a…”
“I hired Eric Church after interviewing 75 CEO candidates. We took the company from 100 million to over 400 million in revenue together.”
From the episode
Brian Scudamore: From Trash to Cash
Brian Scudamore