Yesterday, I talked a little about Hunter vs Farmer theory.

I’d say many entrepreneurs are absolute hunters.  They like high stake missions, go after opportunities, etc.

But this offers a paradox, can a hunter build a business?  Once they get a hold of the opportunity, they’ll eventually need to start farming: getting the details right, being methodic, etc.  (You could say the same paradox exists for venture capitalists.  They have to hunt down investments, but they need to farm their portfolio).

The entrepreneur deals with this by putting the right people in the right place.  The personnel needs of a company change over time.

They also deal with this by doing what they need to do, making the right decisions, and keep going until they get they get the kill.

This is why truly great hunters are relentless. Relentless hunters turn the “farming” aspects into part of the hunt;  they do this by hunting down the right personnel and by seeing farming as another step in the longterm hunt.

-Kevin
3.4.2010