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James Carville, Bill Clinton’s chief strategist when Clinton ran for president in 1992 famously described their pitch to voters in one simple phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Clinton and Carville’s relentless focus on the economy. Clinton’s opponent, President George Bush, didn’t focus on the economy and he paid the price, losing to Clinton.
If you just substitute team for economy, then you can mirror Carville’s single minded focus and win. Say it with me, “It’s the team, stupid.”
When you’re building a tech company, you need to relentlessly focus on your team to innovate and win.
It doesn’t matter what else you do. You will not be able innovate unless you have a team capable of innovating.
So, your job as CEO is to put everything in place to build and nurture a team capable of consistently innovating. The first piece is obvious:
You need to recruit a team capable of developing innovative products.
Again, say it with me, “It’s the team, stupid.”
Your first job as CEO is to recruit, recruit, and then recruit some more. You obviously want to hire great technical talent.
