Getting Beyond the Founder Ego, with Otto Founder Steven Carter

In this episode, Heath talks with Steven Carter, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Otto, formerly TeleVet. In college, Steven saw a demand for a horse-selling version of CARFAX. So, he filled the gap. Similarly, after seeing a demand for a tele-vet service, Steven helped start what is now the number one tele-vet service in the world, Otto. Heath and Steven discuss the pivotal moments and pressing challenges of starting a company and helping it grow. Sometimes, this means stepping back and steering the boat in unseen ways—such as hiring a new CEO. Listen in to hear the humbling hero’s journey of tech startups.

Timecoded Guide:

[00:00] Start of episode

[02:21] The strategic route for founders

[05:24] Horsefax, TeleVet, then Otto

[09:06] The decision to find a pro CEO

[13:57] Ditching the ego as a founder

[22:07] Storming, forming, norming

[24:20] Founders’ role post new CEO

The strategic startup route

After finding that they had the right product market fit for TeleVet, Steven and his team decided to take the strategic route. Though for their market at the time, the go-to strategy can be challenging. So his team met several large corporations, and they were able to close a series B financing of $40 million in equity and $10 million in debt. With Otto, Steven was able to build a product that goes directly to the consumer—which is vital in the veterinary space.

“For us, our philosophy has always been the veterinary is the center of the universe, and then we build around that. And so to create a unique business model where you can go directly to the consumer, but also reward the clinics who are involved in that process is really a big win.”

Ditching the founders’ ego: finding a new CEO

As Otto became successful, Steven faced the dilemma of reconciling his leadership and the skyrocketing company growth. Steven had to meet head-on the challenges of accelerated growth while balancing the happenings of the board. They needed to raise funding after a market plateau and also found friction amongst the executives with one wanting to become CEO—a corporate coup d’etat. The adversity was tumbling forward, and Steven took a leap—they hired a professional CEO.

“I think it's always important as a founder to always realize that your job isn't necessarily to be the best CEO, the best product person is just to make sure that business is successful. And how that evolves over time will be different for everyone.”

The hero’s journey: working with a new CEO

After taking the step of hiring someone new, Steven was faced with the challenge of being a company leader while also working with a brand-new CEO. This entails communication logistics, evolving roles, and many difficult transitions. Heath and Steven call this adjustment storming, norming, and forming. Though it may be difficult, it’s one part of thinking costumer-forward and making things work. Steven and Zeynep Young, the new CEO, have since forged an excellent feedback loop.

“It's sort of like storming and norming to a degree, right, you face a problem, and then you work together to solve it.”

Storming, norming, forming: the evolving founder’s role

Now that Steven, Zeynep, and the team have adjusted to the big changes, they have established a steady rhythm of leadership meetings, meeting with the CTO and head of customer success. This has accelerated many conversations while problem solving many challenges, Steven says. Now, Steven is the Chief Product Officer while serving informally in a president leadership type role. In the startup hero’s journey, this was the resurrection of sorts.

“Tripping, falling down, getting back up. So it is genuinely like a process to get to a place where you start to actually gel and be able to make decisions quickly—which is always really important.”