Meta’s co-founder says serving as CEO for 13 years was exhausting

Meta co-founder Dustin Moskowitz opened up about the pains of leadership, admitting that 13 years as CEO was “exhausting.”

Moskowitz, one of the original founders of Meta, formerly of Facebook, co-founded the social platform in 2004. Mark ZuckerbergAndrew McCollum.

After leaving Facebook in 2008, he retained a stake of just over 8%, making him A billionaire with a net worth of $12 billionAccording to the most recent data from Forbes. That same year, he became the co-founder and CEO of work management software platform Asana.

Moskowitz announced it Asana’s departure as CEO earlier this year and assumed the role of chairman while retaining ownership of 53% of the company’s outstanding shares in Class A and Class B holdings.

The billionaire recently opened up about what it’s like to be the CEO at Asana, and also has an introverted personality. The Stretchery Podcast by Ben ThompsonReleased on Monday.

“I don’t like managing teams, and I didn’t intend to when we started Asana,” Moskowitz said during the episode.

“I thought about being more independent or an engineering major or something again. Then one thing led to another and I was CEO for 13 years and I found it very exhausting.”

He added: “I’m an introvert, I had to put on this face day in and day out, and then at first I was like, ‘Oh, it’s going to be easy, the company will be more mature,’ and then the world kept getting more and more confusing — Trump’s first presidency and the pandemic and all the race stuff, it made it very difficult to be CEO of a company. Kind of.”

A variety of notable business leaders, from Meta’s Zuckerberg to the co-founder of Microsoft, have described themselves as introverts. Bill Gatesand chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett.

Susan Cain, author of “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,” says introverts often move into leadership positions and thrive in quiet and less stimulating environments.

She said that introverts have some hidden traits that may make them suitable for leadership positions, including taking less risks, being more creative and being good at problem solving.

Kane said introverted leaders can be “slow” and “perfect” in making decisions, which helps them avoid impulsive or reckless moves.

According to Cann, they tend to find solitude “a real catalyst for creativity.”

“The two-tiered structure of how we view personality is a huge waste of talent, energy and happiness,” Kane said. “We need to adopt more of a yin and yang approach to balance the two styles.”