There were four of us. We lived in the Bay Area and were doing a startup. We had a cube in an incubator in Palo Alto. One guy, the President, had the cube. The rest of us worked from home. We didn't even have a garage.
The incubator held "launch parties" for startups that were leaving the nest—typically at the first round of serious investment. As one party wound down, I ended up in an entertaining conversation with a guy who'd put some money into the startup du jour. At one point in the conversation he looked over at the two founders, who were clearly enjoying their moment as rock stars, and said, "Here in the Valley we have a tradition. After two years, we like to take the founders out into the alley and put a bullet in their head."
His illustration was grotesque, but I understood his meaning. Businesses sometimes/often outgrow the people that make up the business. And it's not just startups. I've watched more than one department outgrow the capabilities of the talented Director or Vice President who founded the department. I've seen more than one initiative outpace the abilities of the visionary who launched the initiative. I've seen it up close and personal.
Since that conversation, I've often wondered when and if this must be so. Clearly there are exceptions: Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, and Scott McNealy (or maybe it just took twenty two years for his appointment in the alley).
Mostly, I've thought about how to avoid the bullet.
I think the solution for me is a mixture of
I'm sure there are others (in fact, I've been editing this all day long, if you can't tell).
Anyone out there have the magic bullet for avoiding the bullet?
- Bandit
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