Ask HN: How Do I Thrive Working with a “Hands-On” Founder?

I just started work as interim CMO on very exciting new marketplace project. The founder and I get along great. He has no ego, 20 years of domain experience, and works with a small team that has been by his side for more than a decade. He defies all the stereotypes, except one--he's extremely hands-on. Too much so.

While the founder isn't your "typical" control freak, or a micromanager, per se, but he wants to do everything himself.

It's been great in many ways. Today I refreshed my knowledge of PPC ad buying as we reviewed our paused campaign with another consultant. Last week we set up our CRM from scratch. I know I'm adding tremendous value, and I feel appreciated every day.

While today was great, we also spent the better part of an hour fine-tuning a single email to cold leads. And on today's PPC call, our founder went down the rabbit hole trying to tweak the copy in a single Google ad. Successful campaigns run and optimize dozens or hundreds of variations.

I admire and appreciate our CEOs commitment to getting things right. He's excited to learn, and I'm learning along with him. I am also afraid his time and my own aren't being put to their best use. Tasks take 5x longer than they otherwise might.

I've worked with many (many) startups where VC's set unhealthy growth targets, and everyone runs themselves into the ground. Now we're self-funded, and time pressure seems to be a thing of the past. After building the platform for the past three years, we signed up our first user this week.

No one is cracking the whip, and I admire and vibe with our CEO. I also notice myself getting impatient with the glacial pace.

Am I crazy to look sideways at such a chill situation? How can I guide our hands-on CEO to move little faster, or let go of individual tasks sooner?

If you have strategies to make this partnership thrive, I'd love to hear your best tips.