Following the successful Growth Series events organized by NEIBC in 2012, we are excited to announce the first event of the series for 2013.  The event will take place on Friday, February 15, from 8-10am at the Foley Hoag Emerging Enterprise Center in Waltham.

The first session will focus on one of the most critical decisions in the life-cycle of startups: Has the company reached an inflection point where it might want to replace the founding CEO?  Harvard Business School Professor Noam Wasserman, author of the bestseller The Founder’s Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup, will provide his insights through an interactive session on why such transitions commonly fail.  While a certain percentage of startups succumb to issues of product or market fit, the vast majority meet their end due to such “people problems.”

By the way, early observations by pioneering scholar Douglas “Hitchhiker” Adams suggest similar findings.  In his words:

• To summarize: it is a well-known fact that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it.
• To summarize the summary: anyone capable of getting themselves made President should by no means be allowed to do the job.
• To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.

Agenda:
8:00-8:45  Networking and breakfast
8:45-8:50  Welcome by Amir Eldad, NEIBC Chairman
Opening remarks by RGL Group, Morgan Stanley
8:50-9:50  Main session + interactive conversation
Prof. Noam Wasserman, Harvard Business School
9:50-10:00 Conclusion