Experience

Experience is valuable, and an experienced team leader can generate a delta of millions of dollars and multiple years vs. an inexperienced one. However, realize that experience is measured in experiences and not in years. A VP of R&D who led the development of 2 robust products in 3 years is at least as valuable as a VP of R&D who led the development of 2 comparable products in 6 years. The worst of all possible worlds are people who have many years of “experience” with few actual experiences — these people may increase the nominal value of a company during M&A, especially in summer times when markets are hot, but actually can be negative value to a default-dead startup focusing on operations rather than optics. In the absence of great experienced candidates, I recommend to hire and train high-potential inexperienced candidates rather than hoping for a miracle with candidates with many years of paper “experience.”