I can't over-emphasize this. A solid, cohesive team is the most important part of your business plan. I've repeatedly heard the excuse that the President/Founder can't afford to hire the necessary talent. I would strongly argue that if you get this wrong, then you're simply wasting time and money. BUILDING A WORLD CLASS EXECUTIVE TEAM IS A CRITICAL FIRST STEP TO BUILDING A WORLD CLASS COMPANY. I've seen many companies where the Founder/President/CEO (a single individual) takes the view that he/she is the owner and in control. This is a significant weakness for any startup. A strong executive team of 3-5 people is absolutely critical to the success of the company. Take an honest look at your strengths and weaknesses and recruit executive talent to complement your skills. Be prepared to relinquish control. The executive team should collectively be experts in: sales, technology and finances at a minimum. Skill overlap is okay but respect people's domain of responsibility. Full skill coverage around the executive table is critical. It's important to have a strong partner to bounce ideas off. Strong debate keeps everyone on their toes and generates a good, healthy decision -> the strength of the debate is directly proportional to the strength of the management team and the strength of the outcome. Separate the people from the problem. Always tackle the problem and not the person. The music needs to stop. Decisions need to be made quickly with accurate information and without bias or politics. Then move on. Agility and innovation are critical to beating the large, lumbering incumbent competitors. Once a decision is made, then everyone needs to whole-heartedly support it when they leave the room. The executive team should meet for 1-2 hours every week for a roundtable discussion on status, issues and upcoming milestones. We would typically hold department-level staff meetings first, as input to the executive team meeting. PLAN, EXECUTE, LEARN AND REPEAT IS A KEY ETHOS FOR ANY ORGANIZATION |