Earlier in the week we mentioned a
preview of a presentation Steve Blank is giving this Friday at the
Startup Lessons Learned conference in which he describes how startups
and larger companies are unique and have differing needs. One of the
ways they distinguish themselves from one another is that the roles of
executives play out in very different ways, and sometimes startups make
the mistake of hiring execs that would fit in better with a larger
company. Ben Horowitz of Andreessen Horowitz wrote recently on
this very topic and provided some
hints to startups looking to hire execs.
Startups are young and small by their very nature; after all, once you get older and larger, you're not really a startup anymore. With that, they require a different style of leadership than larger companies. Startups need executives who are constantly active and who are hands on, and having passion for the company is a serious plus. The more the executives reflect the attitudes of the founding entrepreneurs, the better.
This differs greatly from the atmosphere created for executives at large companies. As Horowitz recalls, when he worked for Hewlett Packard, his job was driven by the swarm of outside activity which came to him and created his daily work-flow. Less of this, he says, goes on with startups, and at times a new exec not suited for startup culture can find himself feeling a bit like a fish out of water without any clue as to what to actually do. He calls this a "rhythm mismatch."
To read the full, original article click on this link: The Perfect Fit: How Startups Can Avoid Hiring The Wrong Execs - ReadWriteStart
Author: Chris Cameron
