Dr Jeff Cornwall

Eric, a regular at this site, sent me this question via e-mail over the weekend:

I recently saw a presentation by Vinod Khosla who left an interesting quote of “other companies hired what they could easily and left every other thing as weak links…” (in reference to Sun’s founding executive team). What “links” do you think a good company needs to fill?

This quote hits at one of the key aspects of sustaining growth — building a strong team.
Who any given entrepreneur needs to add to their team depends on several issues:
– The entrepreneur should always build a team that complements his or her strengths. I was strong on the strategic aspects of marketing and in financial strategies, and my partners were strong in healthcare program development. That meant we needed to fill in the gaps in areas that we were weak as a founding team.
– The very next person you need to add to your team is always the area that is causing the most pain for your business as it grows. This can differ greatly from company to company. Rarely do you have the money to add everyone on the team at once. So be strategic. What is the area that is most critical to grow your business the next 10-20%? Or, what is the “link” that if you do not fill it, you may not survive the stresses and strains caused by your current growth? That is the position you need to fill first.
– Consideration must also be given to competitive criteria. For example, we sought to have our healthcare facilities accredited at the very highest level. We knew it would give us a huge competitive advantage. So we hired someone who could help us achieve that goal. We could not afford to pay him the actual salary that he was worth, so we crafted an equity and bonus package that made it possible.
– Different industries require different talent in teams. For some, IT is critical — so that may be your key “link.” For others it may be a controller that can keep costs in line and allow them to be more competitive on bidding.