Principle #1: “ITPS!”

I’m kicking off this blog with a list of my “Principles of Entrepreneurship.” This is a fluid list that will grow and evolve over time, but I can get the basics into a few posts.

 “ITPS.” (“Its the people, stupid!”)

You cannot build a first-rate business using second-rate people. Your idea, your money, and your organizational skills will all only take you so far. At some point, the people in the management suite and on the front line have to take over and execute.

If you haven’t chosen well – chosen people whose integrity, sense of duty, loyalty, and basic judgement is first-rate - you will end up with a second-rate outcome, no matter what else you may have done right. This is my first and most important principle. You can get a lot of other things wrong. You can’t get the people wrong and succeed.