This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Oleksandr “Alex” Matsiuk, cofounder and CEO of RiseGuide, an expert-powered microlearning app. The company has grown to 110 employees across 12 countries since its founding in 2024. The essay has been edited for length and clarity.
Becoming the CEO of a fast-growing company created a problem I hadn’t anticipated: Nobody was responsible for telling me how to improve.
I decided that if honest feedback wasn’t reaching me naturally, I needed to build a system that would deliver it. That included hiring outspoken employees and bringing someone onto my board specifically to argue with me.
I felt…
