Field Note #86. On "Evaluating Start Up Leadership"

Source: C. Gordon Bell with John McNamara, High-Tech Ventures: The Guide for Entrepreneurial Success (1991)

Almost every investor in and around early stage companies highlights "people" as a critical business & investment evaluation criterion.  However, few elaborate upon the attributes of leadership success and failure in a "systematic" fashion.  

Chapter 3 of High-Tech Ventures (c. 1991) is an attempt at this systematic elaboration.

Note that systematic != mechanical.  Heuristics abound.

One area of further investigation: how does an open source environment change the views presented herein?

The Details.