Joe Rubin, Director, FundingPost: “The majority of VCs told us that it is ‘business as usual’ and there will not be much of an impact. At FundingPost, we believe that impact will be felt at CEO level – where a founder of a startup sees potential for a home run in their exit.”

Jack Carsten, Managing Director, Horizon Ventures: ”The firms that invested in this company are going to be ‘rescued’ from poor returns, as it is one of only successes in sector. That might influence LPs to reinvest in Internet centric funds...but I doubt it. Public and private valuations tend to move together sector by sector, even though this often does not make logical sense. So if Google IPO valuation holds up over time, it can become a benchmark for exit valuations. On other hand, if it tanks, it will only reflect badly on sector - greedy VCs cheated public again....”

Chris Roser, General Partner, Roser Ventures: “The IPO market always has an impact on venture investing in regards to higher valuations more open IPO window. The question is how much Google will influence IPO market and to extent it is successful, I believe, it will contribute to a good IPO market.”

3) Do you feel that this will heat up M&A space - with Google now having "currency" for acquisitions and Yahoo and Microsoft racing to compete?

Joe Rubin, Director, FundingPost: “The majority of investors felt that only a few companies would benefit directly and that M&A space has improved this year independently.”

John Shulman, Managing Director, Allied Capital: “There is no doubt that M&A will heat up. It is happening anyway and this will only accelerate velocity of activity.”

Jesse Lawrence, Associate, Updata Partners: “The IPO may heat up M&A activity within search and related sectors, but should not have a significant effect on other software sectors.”

Wouldn't you want to be certain your key people have a drive to stay on course despite obstacles and regardless of circumstances?

Let's get back to Richard. Now he knows which candidates can plan. Then, he can check report to find out attitudes of different candidates and their level of commitment to company.

Companies are becoming more aggressive in attracting top talent. Richard wants to know how his key people feel about company. He wants to reduce risk of handing someone a project, then finding out after fact that person does not have drive or desire for project, loyalty or commitment company.

Richard has started to narrow down his list of candidates as he looks to future of company. Which of candidates has capacity to become a manager? Who could take a long-term role and excel at leadership?

A unique aspect of Value Profile is that it provides Richard with accurate assessment of a person's intuitive insight or "gut feeling" about issues. More and more, executives are admitting they use and rely on their "gut feelings" to make important decisions. Using intuitive insight, leaders are becoming more proficient at distinguishing which opportunities are best and which to avoid.

Top people are looking for challenging, meaningful and rewarding work. They seek positions where they use their talent and make a difference. They look forward to creating new opportunities for their company. These are kind of candidates Richard searches for.

Other important considerations when considering candidates for a specific project are stress factors, sources of motivation and communicating with others.

We will share insights on these three areas in third article of this series.

(c) 2004, Team Results Inc. and Axelrod & Associates All rights in all media reserved. Right to publish this article is granted provided article and by-line are reprinted intact.