Are You Marked for Greatness?

Almost by definition entrepreneurs make their mark on the world. Building a company that grows and prospers is all about taking the intangible thread of an idea and spinning it into something real and enduring. John Hamm, 40, managing director of operations at Internet Capital Group (ICG), is an expert at scouting for and developing the personal traits that can mean the difference between a breakthrough business that succeeds and an interesting idea that goes nowhere. ICG, the high-profile B2B holding company based in Wayne, Pennsylvania, has invested more than $2 billion in 80 e-commerce startups, including Breakaway Solutions Inc., eCredit.com Inc., and VerticalNet Inc.

ICG's stock-market fortunes have been as volatile as those of the whole Internet sector. The company went public in 1999 at $6 per share, soared to more than $200 per share, and then crashed back to $24. But it's not Hamm's job to understand the shifting moods on Wall Street. His job is to test the mettle of the entrepreneurs whose companies ICG may invest in. A former CEO himself (of Whistle Communications, which was acquired by IBM in June 1999), Hamm has interviewed scores of aspiring CEOs in order to assess their ability to make their mark. Here, he shares his criteria for determining whether a would-be entrepreneur has what it takes to succeed. Do you?

What Are You Committed To?

People don't try any of the stuff that they read about in Fast Company unless they are committed to their work. But there's a skill to getting deeper into what people are committed to. Everybody is committed to something. And track records can tell you a lot more about what people are really committed to, as opposed to what they think they're committed to. What are the nuances of your commitment? What exactly are you willing to risk for that commitment? Are you more committed to the friends you made in business school than you are to your business plan? If it came right down to it, would you sell those guys out if you thought that they might be going in a different direction than you are?

At the end of the day, you have to do a forced ranking of your commitments. For example, I'm often asked to go back to being a CEO. One thing that keeps me from doing that is that I'm not more committed to business than I am to my children. Working 24 hours a day for the next two years could be right for someone else, but that's just not where I am.

What Mark Are You Trying to Make?

Even more important is the question "On behalf of what are you trying to make your mark?" I ask that a lot, and it startles people. People don't want to say, "On behalf of my ego. I want to be a big shot. I want some publicity. I want to be a big deal." Actually, those are all okay answers. But I want to know the real answer. So when people talk about making their mark, I say, "Great, what mark do you want to make? What would it look like? What would it be on behalf of?" And I want really thoughtful answers to those questions. I don't care as much about the content of the answer as I do about the authenticity of it. I'll decide later if it's the right content for the deal at hand. But if it's not thoughtful, if it's not deep, then the content almost doesn't matter.

Are You Tough Enough?

An entrepreneur needs to have an emotional maturity and toughness. Any hard project is guaranteed to stir up a wide range of emotions. Take, for example, running out of money just when your team needs you to keep the faith. On the one hand, you're scared to death. On the other hand, you have to keep a stiff upper lip. I also look for a balance of optimism and grounded reality. Optimism without grounded reality is a dream. Grounded reality without optimism is boring. People who are emotionally tough are always saying, "There's got to be a way." Business is not life-threatening; it's ego-threatening. And the people who are willing to risk their ego are emotionally tough.

A key point: Leaders mostly get tested on emotional toughness. You can farm out intellectual problems to your team, your advisory board, or your board of directors. But you can't subcontract emotional toughness. I don't mean the emotional toughness of Patton being a hard-ass. Toughness also means taking care of people. It means being skilled enough to deal with people and their emotions and realizing that the business is creating as big of an emotional roller coaster for everyone else as it is creating for you. Real leaders aren't afraid to say, "Hey, you guys are scared. I'm scared too."