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Evgeny Shadchnev PCC

No Founder CEO should feel trapped in their job | Author of Startup CEO Succession | ex-CEO at Makers

Evgeny Shadchnev is an experienced startup CEO who has successfully navigated the challenging decision to step down from his role at Makers, a startup he founded and led.

He is the author of 'Startup CEO Succession: A Founder’s Guide to Leadership Transition' where he shares insights and guidance for founder CEOs considering leadership transitions.

With a background in computer science and advanced computing, including studies at Imperial College London and Voronezh State University, Evgeny brings a strong technical foundation to his coaching and mentoring roles.

He has held various leadership positions in organizations like All Together, Femme Palette, Ada Ventures, Makers, Forward Labs, and more, where he has provided guidance and mentorship to startups and entrepreneurs.

Evgeny's expertise lies in coaching founder CEOs through critical decision-making processes, offering personalized guidance and support to help them enhance their leadership skills or transition to new roles with confidence.

If you are a founder CEO facing uncertainty about your leadership position, Evgeny Shadchnev can help you unlock your full potential and make informed decisions about your startup journey.

Highlights

Sep 11 · linkedin

What I love most about Adam's story of CEO succession at Switchee is his self-awareness, which enabled him to realise that although the company had been growing very well under his leadership, it would need a leader with a different skill set in the future.

Result? The business has doubled in size every year, both before and since the CEO succession, under the new leader, Tom Robins, except during the Covid year.

Not only was this CEO transition a big success, but Adam remained in the business after stepping down as CEO, reinventing his relationship with Tom.

In this episode, we explore Adam's story of building Switchee and hiring his replacement. Next week, I will speak to Tom, the new CEO, to discuss what the same CEO succession looked like from his vantage point.

The Startup CEO Succession podcast is available on all major platforms.

Sep 4 · linkedin

The conversation with Rory Stirling had so many highlights that I'm struggling to choose the best one.

When every other podcast with an investor is about how to leverage AI to build unicorns, Rory and I spoke about what it's like to approach difficult conversations as a human being, first and foremost.

A conversation about a CEO stepping down, whether it's the CEO's choice or the investor's, is one of those difficult, high-stakes conversations.

I love how Rory approaches his work: acknowledging his own fear and greed and focusing on the founder in whom he invested, trusting that putting their interests first is synonymous with putting the company's and the fund's LPs' interests first.

The UK startup ecosystem is lucky to have investors like Rory.

I hope you enjoy our conversation. Search for "Startup CEO Succession" on Youtube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or (best of all) Substack.

Evgeny Shadchnev PCC
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Location

United Kingdom