dantiernan.com Blog

We hear it all the time:

“The people are more important than the product”,

“I’d rather invest in an A-team with a B-opportunity, than a “B-team with an A-opportunity”

It’s all true and here is one of my favorite quotes on the topic:

“You hope you don’t hire anybody who is stupid, but if you do, pray that they don’t have a lot of energy.”

Roberto Goizueta, Former CEO of Coca-Cola, who passed away in October 1997

On a related note, here is a great post on the goal of many companies to implement a “No Assholes” policy.

http://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/12/boris_groysberg.html

Steve Jobs is a master story teller and salesman that uses themes, outlines, images and passion to make sure he is heard.

Learn how Steve does it. This analysis is very similar to a previous post that includes powerpoint presentation guidelines from Seth Godin and Guy Kawasaki.

Obvious: One of the best ways to gain credibility when selling something new to a prospect is via a good story about a client that is using your product in a way that the prospect will relate with.
http://www.dumblittleman.com/2007/09/formula-for-telling-good-story.html

They have the same lawyer. Charles “Junior” Johnson, former CEO of PurchasePro, will begin his retrial next month with the assistance of OJ’s attorney.

http://www.lvrj.com/business/8369942.html

“Junior” played on a smaller field, but makes Scrushy, Kozlowski and the Enron guys look boring and dull.

In Mark Andreessen’s latest blog entry in the “guide to startups” series, he tells companies not to hire a professional CEO. Leaving us to ponder why? I co-founded a company that hired a professional CEO. Later in my career, I was hired as a CEO for a company I did not found. In neither case did I feel like I was involved in something that was illogical and don’t regret either decision. That being said, here are my top 5 reasons this might not make sense:

1. You can’t hire passion.

2. If you’re still finding your way, how do you figure out what you need in a leader?

3. New hires are a 50/50 gamble. Do you want to flip a coin regarding the leader of your company?

4. You can’t pay enough.

5. Lingering founder doubt, especially if you resolve #4.