by Laila Khan

Created on: August 06, 2008   Last Updated: October 04, 2008

Houses are built from the bottom up, beginning with the foundation and ending with the roof. The foundation essentially remains unchanged, unless the entire house is destroyed and rebuilt. The roof is changed occasionally, when a storm disturbs the shingles. A company, however, is not like a house. In fact, a company is quite the opposite. A company is built from the top down, starting with the executives. The workers, those at the bottom ranks of the company, change often. The executives, at the top of the company, are the first to start and the last to leave. The executives only change if the company itself is changed and remade. It is for this reason that creating the best possible executive team is the most important step for a start-up company.

As is true with almost every important step, there are many different obstacles. According to the founder and CEO of Keen Mobility Company, Vail Horton, the first step in building an executive team is finding a second-in-command, or a co-pilot for your company (1). This can be extremely difficult as this person must be a perfect fit for the company and for the founder. Picking a partner for a company is like finding a mate; he or she must be compatible in every way. He or she must have the knowledge necessary to fully understand the company; he or she must have the skills necessary to run the company without the founder's help; he or she must have a personality that fits in well with the founder and anyone else that is involved in the process; and he or she must be trustworthy enough to rely upon in all situations. In other words, this person has to be the perfect companion while also knowing a great deal about whatever area the company deals with. If, for example, you are the founder of a company that manufactures medical devices, your second-in-command must know all about said medical devices, and the process by which they are manufactured. You do not want a person who does not know the difference between a catheter and an enema, as this could cause quite a confusion for nurses receiving a delivery.

So how does a founder find such a person? Should he or she take out an ad as on a dating service website? "Single male founder of a medical manufacturing company seeks a second-in-command with knowledge of medical devices and manufacturing processes. Must have an amiable personality and work well with others." Unfortunately this route isn't exactly the best one. Jim Houtz, the founder of CyCare Systems, advises that

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>