What works for your kids, works for your team.
Being dispensable is a virtue.
A child who’s never allowed to struggle never learns to. A team whose founder always has the answer stops looking for its own. The CEO Parent is the book that helps founders build teams that think, decide, and act, without waiting for permission.
Coming Q3 2026 · The first chapter is yours now, no waiting.
My son fought with his shoelaces for weeks.
Every founder says they want their team to think for themselves. Then a decision lands on their desk, and they solve it anyway, because it’s faster. I did the same thing every morning with my son’s shoelaces.
Every evening we practiced. Every evening he got frustrated. My instinct was to help. Four seconds, and we could move on. I’d been doing exactly that every morning: stepping in, tying the laces, moving on. Because it was faster.
One morning I stayed back instead. “Just try. I’m here.” It took thirty minutes. He fumbled. He adjusted. He tried again. Eventually, he tied them himself.
That’s the whole book, really. Every time you step in to make something faster, you take away the moment someone proves it to themselves. The way you lead determines whether the people around you grow, or stay exactly where they are.
Read the first chapter of The CEO Parent, free
Chapter One is called The Bottleneck at the Top. It is about the moment a founder stops being the engine and becomes the ceiling. Nine pages. Most founders recognise themselves in the first two.
Straight to your screen, plus a copy in your inbox. More about the chapter.
Build Self-Thinking Teams
Teams that decide, act, and own the outcome, without waiting for your approval.
Grow With Less Chaos
Trade adrenaline for rhythm. A designed company scales; a busy one just gets heavier.
Reclaim Your Focus
Spend your week on the work only you can do, not on decisions someone else could own.
Get Your Freedom Back
The reason you started the company, before the company started running you.
“The most valuable thing you can do for your business is learn to get out of its way.”Steve Jones, Managing Director, Skills for Business | Global Business Leadership Award Winner 2025 | author of the foreword
“This is a book every scale-up CEO should read before growth turns into chaos.”Bart Taveirne, Founder of Pathway To Success, Author of The Alignment Code
“This book is essential reading for business leaders who want to scale without burning out.”Twan Voss, Co-founder, Solar Dew & Bebambu.eu
“This book is essential reading for every founder or CEO who wants to scale their business without it all running through them.”Patrick Schilperoord, CEO, OpenSource Energie, Hosted Energy & Energy Together
“If you're a CEO ready to grow beyond yourself, The CEO Parent is the book you need.”Stephan van Gelder, Growth Entrepreneur & Business Coach, helped 300+ founders scale to €2 to €3M+ businesses
“Sjoerd has a gift for making complexity simple, with vivid examples that stick.”Melvin Jellesma, Founder & EVP Managing Director EMEA, Momentum EMEA
“A must-read for CEOs who want to bring their teams along to grow harder, together.”Bert Kamper, Founder & EVP of Technology EMEA, Momentum EMEA
Hi, I’m Sjoerd Maas.
For more than fifteen years I’ve been the right hand of founders: the person scale-up CEOs call when they finally admit they’re excellent entrepreneurs and terrible managers. I’m also the father of two young sons, who taught me most of what’s in this book without meaning to.
The CEO Parent comes from watching the same pattern in both worlds: people grow in the space you leave them, not the space you fill.