What Have You Become?

Seeking Business Nirvana

In a perfect world, most entrepreneurs would love to run a flexible, creatively driven shop where decisions are made at all levels and managers are accountable to employees as well as vice versa. But they also want bigger sales, a better facility, and the cachet of a hugely successful company. Can it be done without cor-porate hassles, petty office politics, insulated managers, and presenting a bigger target for competitors?

"A lot of entrepreneurs wouldn't mind operating under the radar screen, taking their companies along a steady growth path and having a lot of fun with it," says Winning. "But I don't know if that's possible. For too many people, the fun is in starting the company and not keeping it running. That's what [Microsoft's] Paul Allen did-and he's as big a hero to a lot of entrepreneurs as Bill Gates is, any day of the week."

This article was originally published in the May 2000 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: What Have You Become?.