Attended a recent UNH CEO Forum presentation by Paula Long who was one of the co-founders of EqualLogic and Don Bulens who was the CEO that guided it over the finish line.  This is the now-infamous NH tech entrepreneur story of going from at attic on Pugratory Road on Aprils Fools Day in 2001 (really) to an all cash acquisition of 1.4Billion by Dell in about 7 years.  

What was so great about this presentation was the humility of Paula and Don as they shared, under a “cone of silence” (their term so I can’t tell all), the inside view of the “adventure” in contrast to the outside view which tends to only focus on how wonderfully it ended versus how imperfect the path was along the way; thus their title for the presentation - “The Intrepid Journey of EqualLogic”.

Some really great points made:

“We had nothing to lose so we made a big bet - and went after the big guys.”

“With that nothing-to-lose attitude we also bet on an emerging standard(iSCSI) and non-traditional approaches on the market (mid-market) along with a new selling model for the sector  (an unfailing comittment to a channel).

There was plenty of learning along the way, the kind of organizational dynamics that happen in high growth tech companies including a VC-installed “rockstar CEO” from central casting that did not work out as planned… but at the end of the day the most amazing - and telling - thing is that the mission statement contained on the opening slide of their Series A presentation in 2001 was almost identical to a key slide prepared for the IPO roadshow presentation (the IPO that was rudely interrupted by that 1.4B from Texas).

For me the takeaway message is to never underestimate the unique “compass” carried by the founders of a company.  Keeping the founders of a company actively engaged and contributing is critical to a a early venture maintaining its “soul” - including its vision and culture - as it morphs into a successful, performing company.