It’s that time of the year. Fantasy football is just really getting traction with those of us who like to spend too much time doing those things. Each week you change your lineup and jockey for position to pick up some of the best bargains that no one identified yet.

You constantly examine the competition to see where there are strengths, weakness, threats, and opportunities. You occasionally talk some trash to stir up the league and make sure that you are viewed as the lead dog in the “dog eat dog” world of fantasy football competition. You look at those teams ahead of you and wonder just how they go there. You are totally immersed in finding a way to get to the top of the heap so you can be the victor. Sounds intense right? If only you looked at your business or job the same way. Continue Reading…

I’ve been thinking a bit this past week about startup teams and what makes them work (or not work). Most people that are in and around startups will readily agree that recruiting the best team possible is critical to success.

This leads to statements from startup pundits that look a lot like “get the best people possible.” Far be it from me to argue against this kind of sage advice. You should get the best people possible onto your startup team. All things being equal, who wouldn’t want to recruit the best people possible?

However, the phrase “best people possible” is a bit too vague for my tastes. The question is, what makes a given team member the best? Are they the smartest ones? The ones with the most experience? The ones with the greatest skillset for a given role? The ones with the most domain expertise? For purposes of this discussion, I’m going to “merge” all the things that makes a given individual really, really good into something I’ll call “Capability”. You can feel free to make Capability a function of whatever attributes (intelligence, experience, skills, etc.) as suits your taste. Continue Reading…