ONE OF THE REQUIREMENTS TO GET VENTURE CAPITAL FUNDING
"People ask me why I did it. It was a choice between having a company and not having one," says Ellen Pack, founder of the San Francisco-based Wire Networks, creators of Women's Wire and other top Internet sites. What Ellen Pack did was hire an outside CEO, Marleen McDaniel, to run her company. Tough call for a young entrepreneur barely out of Wharton, huh? Pack's strategy is distinctive because she went to an experienced technology CEO on her own. Often venture capital firms will ask to install a management team the firm can count on in exchange for financing - in fact, in the case of an entrepreneur with no track record, it's almost a sure thing.
The combination of a hot idea and a top-flight CEO can turn out to everyone's benefit—think of the symbiosis between inventor Marc Andreessen and financier Jim Barksdale at Netscape. But choosing your business partner yourself can increase the odds of a successful relationship. McDaniel came to Women's Wire after experience in the early stages of six Silicon Valley ventures, including Sun Microsystems. Bringing her aboard—in exchange for a substantial equity stake—paved the way for Women's Wire to secure a venture capital infusion one year later.
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