Top Highlights

• founding of high-potential startups and the founding of small businesses that are designed to remain small
• Conflict avoidance often leads founders to make easy short-term decisions; they succumb to the temptation to sidestep or postpone acknowledging—not to mention resolving—these dilemmas, especially if coming to a decision would require difficult conversations about what could go wrong.
• Founders who consistently make decisions that build wealth are more likely to achieve what I call a “Rich” outcome (greater financial gains, lesser control), while founders who consistently make decisions that enable them to maintain control of the startup are more likely to achieve what I call a “King” outcome (greater control, lesser financial ga...
• A founder who knows whether wealth or control is his or her primary motivation will have an easier time making decisions and can make consistent decisions that increase the chances of reaching the desired outcome—Rich or King.
• “Prioritization is even more important [in a startup] than in a stable business,” said Barry. “I realized that I needed people to not only prioritize what to do, I needed them to create not-to-do lists.