In the past, implementing these steps has been difficult, but now the Internet provides the communication infrastructure that makes it truly possible. In the pre-Internet days, finding human and material resources, monitoring progress, and coordinating efforts were costly and difficult. It enables businesses and individuals to focus and specialize their skills to the extreme - capturing significant labor efficiencies through scale, lowering the friction costs of doing business, and managing the scarce labor challenges of the next century. Companies that give businesses significant leverage in managing their limited resources are just emerging today. They must align incentives across customers, partners, and employees.
Stock options are one way.
By focusing on the core business and relying on well-incentivized business partners, successful companies form their own networks with a powerful drive to succeed. Labor constraints loom large for venture capitalists. In the old days, we worried about finding the next round of funding for our companies. We focused on the technologies our companies built and the markets they sought to serve. Today, we focus on the company's ability to attract and utilize talent - specifically, where to find skilled workers and how to architect the business to use our scant resources well.