By: Lewis Dvorkin, Entrepreneur in Residence

Someone once told me the best title in America is founder. They were so right. To start a company means you had an idea, put a plan together, somehow some way got funding, and then put a product into the marketplace. It’s exhilarating. It’s frustrating. It’s rewarding. It feels good. I know, because I did it.

Well, now I’m doing a second startup. This time I’m the CEO of a ten-person company because I so believe in the founder’s idea. You can read about it here. Whether founder or CEO (I was both at my startup), the work involved is all encompassing. In fact, the work never stops. Those realities came rushing back to me this past week during a trip to New York City, where I introduced our company to the marketplace.

Let’s take a look at what I did in NYC. In other words, let’s take a look at the many roles I played as a startup CEO. Would-be entrepreneurs participating in CSUN’s 4th Annual Bull Ring New Venture Competition, get ready to count to 18!

Travel Agent:I spent hours on Expedia and other travel sites finding the cheapest air fares on the right days at the right times to sync with my appointments. Then, I needed to find a hotel or Airbnb (I stayed in both!) at rates startups can afford (a neat trick in NYC). And, I wanted the place I stayed at to be accessible to public transportation (on my first day I hit the subways six times and my Fitbit still registered 23,500 steps).

Administrative Assistant:I personally scheduled sixteen meetings in six days, making the phone calls, returning the calls, answering voicemails, emails and texts, keeping my own Google calendar and working with the many assistants of executives at far bigger companies. I confirmed meeting times. I changed meeting times. I juggled my calendar to make sure I had time to get to appointments. And, I set my Fitbit for a 6am start every weekday to get to people early in New York.

Business Strategist:Ideas are great. Strategies make them work. What’s the market? Who are the clients? What’s the pricing? What’s the roadmap? I could go on and on. At every meeting all this was running through my head as I listened to reactions to what I was pitching.

Dream Maker: I needed to get people excited about our vision, our strategy, our product, our talent, our place in the marketplace. To do that, you test out talking points, you adjust some, you dump others and you pick the ones that resonate.

Product Person:I represented our team members who spent a year building the product. That meant I needed to be able to speak to product vision, the product roadmap, and too many details to really remember.

Sales Person:I tested out ideas to find revenue to help pay the bills. That means I needed to put together compelling presentations and pitches: the 60-minute pitch, the 30-minute pitch, the elevator pitch and the lunch-and-dinner pitches. Then, after all those pitches, you need to follow up in the days ahead. Sixteen meetings means sixteen follow-up emails, if not more.

Marketing Person:I needed to figure out a plan to get our name talked about in the marketplace. Every morning, I read the CMO section of The Wall Street Journal. I wanted to see what was going on that day, so I wouldn’t get caught off guard by the latest marketing strategy of some digital company.

Technologist: I needed to have a good understanding of our product’s underlying technology. I’m not a coder, but I had to talk the talk and understand it.

Manager: I worked with staffers in different time zones (London and Bucharest) to deliver things I needed for potential clients.

Human Resources Person:You always have to be on the lookout for talent everywhere you go. Even the people sitting opposite you in meetings can be the person you are looking for.

Cheerleader:Startup work is hard. Your colleagues back home, wherever that is, need positive reinforcement to keep up the long hours.

Writer:I wrote a post to get our story in the marketplace.

Editor:I edited my own post to make sure it was accurate.

Photographer:I used my cell phone to talk pictures for the post.

Videographer:I used my cell phone to shoot video for the post.

Social Media Producer:I promoted the post on LinkedIn, Twitter and sent out a hundred emails to circulate the post.

Fund Raiser:I met with venture capitalists about potentially raising money.

Audio/Visual Person: Meeting rooms often don’t have the right equipment. I had a bag full of more cables and cords and adapters than you can imagine. I needed to call in advance to make sure I had what I needed. Even then, there are surprises – like firewalls.

And I’m confident I forgot a few things. But you know what? I had a blast. And that’s a good thing because I need to do it all over again right here in Los Angeles, then back to New York, then to Philadelphia and to Europe, too.

Now I know the second-best title in America: CEO of a startup you believe in like it was your own.