Jason Green, Founding Partner at Emergence Capital, suggests that agents are generally not used to help raise funds in an early stage company although they may be helpful in a late-stage private equity deal. Instead, as Tom Friel, Chairman of Heidrick and Struggles, emphasizes early stage entrepreneurs are connected to VCs through informal networks of advisors who make an introduction for the entrepreneur.

Tom Friel, Chairman of Heidrick and Struggles, discusses the challenges of building a great team and suggests that startups can attract great talent with a number of factors, including money, self-fulfillment, belief in the mission or belief in the founder. Friel argues that to attract and retain great talent, entrepreneurs should be generous with at least one or more of these factors and sufficient on the others. Furthermore, Friel adds only a great team can make the startup a large and successful organization and sometimes this includes the replacement of founders with a professional CEO.

Tom Friel, Chairman of Heidrick and Struggles, discusses the three fundamental inputs into a startup: people, capital and an idea. Friel argues that people, particularly leaders, are the scarce commodity and are more valuable than gold or oil.

Tom Friel, Chairman of Heidrick and Struggles, suggests that frequently in entrepreneurial ventures replacing the founder CEO with an experienced CEO is needed for the venture to scale and grow. Friel argues that perhaps the hardest experience for a founder is to recognize that their company might do better if they were to take a different role than CEO which often determines whether the venture stays small and successful or scales to something greater.