From the New York Times, Sunday January 28, 2007 -

"...have a common view at the highest level of what the company needs to do to succeed: hire great people, make big bets and take the long view and be patient where we think there are the greatest opportunities."

- Bill Gates, CEO Microsoft

Sound advice for all companies, regardless of size or life-cycle stage. And note, it all begins with the team - hiring great people. Why would great people want to work for your company? Every manager in your organization needs to be able to answer this question.

Most successful angel and venture capital investors base their investment decision on the team. Warren Buffett's embraces this practice in his decision making as well - "You can't make a good deal with a bad person".

Hire great people. If you do, great things are likely to occur.

Pierre Cutler
The Sacramento Executive