Set the Standard: Montana and Rice on Teams, Trust and Second Acts
Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, in conversation with a Valuetainment moderator (not named in the recording; he says he attended Cal State Northridge, which matches Tom Ellsworth), plus audience questions
Respect on any team, whether a locker room, a beverage company or a venture fund, is earned the same way: set the standard by how you show up every day, and never give up on a teammate who is struggling.
A video tribute opened the segment, then Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana and wide receiver Jerry Rice sat down with a Valuetainment moderator for a conversation aimed at founders. Rice described how he earned his place in a champion locker room in 1985 and how his energy-drink company G.O.A.T. Fuel survived launching eight weeks before COVID shut down retail. Montana explained the operating rules of his seed fund Liquid 2 Ventures, what mentor Ron Conway taught him about CEOs who do not know when to step aside, and how he brought his son and daughter into the firm without letting them lean on the family name. Audience questions covered locker-room leadership, why Montana kept throwing to a rookie who kept dropping passes, and how to rebuild your identity after a first career. The recorder was out of the room from roughly 14:09 to 14:27, so about eighteen minutes of the conversation are not captured.
Best for: founders bringing a spouse, child or sibling into the business, new hires and junior partners joining an established, successful team, consumer-product founders fighting for retail distribution, angel and seed investors deciding what they will and will not fund, leaders managing a star performer with a big personality, athletes, creators and executives building a second career, managers with a talented person in a slump
Skills to build
The capabilities underneath the stories, each with a way to practise it.
Setting the standard on day one
Rice joined a locker room that already held two championships. In his first practice he caught a five-yard slant and ran it 95 yards to the end zone, then did it on every play, to show teammates he was accountable and worked hard.
How to practise: In the first 30 days of any new role or team, choose one visible behaviour (first in and last out, every task finished completely, every rep at full speed) and do it every day without announcing it. It is working when teammates start copying it or ask you about it.
14:08:00 / kYdPSVgsD7gdGcPnBqDBReading a retail product by the numbers buyers care about
Rice says retailers do not care about his name or his Super Bowl rings. Distribution is about margins, turns (how often the shelf sells out and is restocked) and how fast the drink moves off the shelf, because velocity earns the reorder.
How to practise: Each month, for every product and every store, record sell-through, margin and reorder status. If a product sits, fix the product, price or placement before chasing more doors. You are winning when reorders arrive without you asking.
14:29:30 / tpnhpYkxYAjQmUXGTPMQGoing direct when your distribution disappears
G.O.A.T. Fuel launched in January 2020 and lost every store and distributor within weeks. The team sold online instead, moved about 16,000 cases in six months, and used that period to learn exactly what customers wanted.
How to practise: Keep a direct channel to your customers alive even when wholesale is healthy: an online store, an email list, a phone number. Once a quarter, read customer messages and reviews in full and write down the three things they keep asking for.
14:28:36 / tpnhpYkxYAjQmUXGTPMQDefining the lane you will not work in
Montana decided early that Liquid 2 Ventures would not invest in sports, would rarely back consumer products, would invest at seed or earlier, would not lead rounds and would not take board seats. He accepts that this cost the fund some winners, but it kept the fund from being labelled a sports investor.
How to practise: Write a one-page 'we do not do' list for your business: sectors, stages, customer types, roles. Name two opportunities you will have to decline because of it. Review the list every quarter and change it deliberately, not deal by deal.
14:33:28 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHRunning a light-touch portfolio review
With about 1,200 portfolio companies, Liquid 2 asks each one for a monthly update. Companies that stop reporting are usually the ones about to shut down, so silence becomes the signal to check in.
How to practise: Whether you back companies or manage teams, ask for a short written update on a fixed monthly date: cash, wins, problems, asks. Keep a list of who went quiet and call them first.
14:38:20 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHHaving the 'get out of the way' conversation
Montana's mentor Ron Conway taught him that one of the biggest reasons companies fail is a CEO who does not know when to step aside, and that the investor's job is to sell that shift softly, for example telling a founder they are really a CTO, not a CEO.
How to practise: Before the conversation, write down the specific evidence, the role that keeps the person's real strength, and what the company gains. Lead with what is best for the company, offer the new role rather than just removing the old one, and give the person time to come to the same conclusion.
14:39:33 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHIntegrating a star into the system
When Deion Sanders joined the 49ers he came with an entourage and his own team. Rice says you do not try to take that away; you find a way to add it to the team, because it makes you better. But the star still has to fit the system, and if they will not, you let them go.
How to practise: For each high-talent, high-friction person, write two lists: what about them is unique and stays, and the few team rules that are not negotiable. Share both with them in the first week and review in 90 days.
14:43:17 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHMentoring by example rather than by speech
Asked how an established veteran mentors a newcomer without trying to change them, Rice answered: by the way you set the standard, the way you prepare and the way you show up every day. He came to work every day wanting to learn something that made him better.
How to practise: Pick one skill a week and study it deliberately in front of your team. Keep a visible learning log. Notice whether the people who work for you begin doing the same.
14:44:22 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHOnboarding family without the family card
Montana's son Nathaniel joined the fund with the same credentials as two other partners (built and sold a company) but stayed quiet in partner meetings, so Montana pushed him to say in the room what he said afterwards. When Montana proposed his daughter Elizabeth to run operations, he warned the partners they would hate her because she would tell them what they were doing wrong; eight months later a partner called her the best hire the firm had made.
How to practise: Hire family into a defined role with public criteria, brief the team honestly on what to expect, require the family member to contribute in every meeting, and set a formal review at six to eight months where the rest of the team gives feedback.
14:45:31 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHCoaching a teammate out of a slump
In Rice's rookie year he dropped many passes. Montana kept throwing to him because he knew what was in him, there are eleven players on offense and you cannot afford to lose one, and the job is to fix the problem rather than quit on the person. Rice says the drops came from trying to impress everyone instead of doing the job of catching the ball.
How to practise: When someone is struggling, check whether the skill shows up in practice or lower-stakes work. If it does, keep giving them real opportunities, name the pressure they are feeling, have teammates encourage them, and make specific corrections after each attempt.
14:54:36 / hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRHFrameworks, lists & numbers
Rice's rookie standard
First practice with the 49ers in 1985: catch a five-yard slant, run it 95 yards to the end zone, then do the same on every play. Purpose: show the veterans you lead by example, show up, are accountable every day and work hard.
G.O.A.T. Fuel launch timeline
Launched January 2020, about eight weeks before COVID shut down stores and distribution. Pivoted to selling online, sold roughly 16,000 cases in six months and about 55 percent of inventory. Rice's daughter won a Walmart supplier challenge during the pandemic, which led to Walmart, then Safeway and Sprouts.
The retail distribution triad
Retail buyers care about three things: margins, turns (how often the shelf sells through) and how fast the product moves off the shelf. Velocity earns reorders. The founder's name and Super Bowl rings do not.
Liquid 2 Ventures operating rules
Seed stage or earlier; no sports investments; rarely consumer products; no leading rounds; no board seats; five partners with diverse backgrounds plus prominent individuals (for example a biotech investor) who do diligence in their fields; about 1,200 portfolio companies; goal of returning ten times each fund; a separate later-stage 'winners fund' to follow the best companies; monthly updates from every company. In the first fund, about one in nine investments became a unicorn.
Ron Conway's failure cause
One of the biggest reasons companies fail is that the CEO does not know when to get out of the way. The investor's job is to sell that shift softly, for example 'you are really a CTO, not the CEO'.
Seven rings, eleven players
Montana won four Super Bowls and Rice three, seven between them. Montana's leadership rule: there are eleven players on offense and all eleven are needed, so you fix a struggling player rather than lose one.
Mentoring by example
Rice's three-part answer to how a veteran mentors a newcomer without changing them: the way you set the standard, the way you prepare, the way you show up every day.
Montana's second-act ladder
Follow a mentor (Ron Conway) to learn the craft; make small individual bets with a partner (his son Nathaniel); land visible wins (Pinterest, Dropbox); raise an institutional fund and let the record speak (one in nine unicorns in fund one).
The eight-month family test
Montana told partners they would hate his daughter Elizabeth because she would tell them what they were doing wrong. After about eight months a partner called her the firm's best hire. She now runs operations.
What matters
19 insights, each with the moment it was said.
Champions ask 'where can I fit in?' before 'what am I owed?'
Rice walked into a locker room with Montana, Dwight Clark, Roger Craig and Ronnie Lott and asked himself where he could fit. He decided he would earn his place through practice, not reputation. Joining a strong team means finding the gap you can fill and proving it with work.
14:07:28 / kYdPSVgsD7gdGcPnBqDBYour name gets you a meeting, not a reorder
Rice says nobody at a retailer cares about Super Bowl rings. It is all about the liquid, the margins and the turns. A celebrity, a brand story or a founder's reputation can open the door, but only product velocity keeps you on the shelf.
14:29:30 / tpnhpYkxYAjQmUXGTPMQA shutdown can be a customer-research window
With no stores or distribution in 2020, G.O.A.T. Fuel sold online and moved about 16,000 cases in six months. Rice says the real gain was getting to know customers and what they wanted. When the market closes a channel, use the direct one to learn.
14:29:05 / tpnhpYkxYAjQmUXGTPMQCertification is positioning
The drink is all natural, which moves it out of the Red Bull and Rockstar category, and it is certified so athletes can drink it without failing a test. Rice ties this to his name being on the can: it has to be 100 percent real. A third-party proof point can be your whole differentiator.
14:30:11 / tpnhpYkxYAjQmUXGTPMQContests and generosity can open the doors sales calls cannot
Rice's daughter won a Walmart challenge for suppliers during the pandemic, which got the brand into Walmart and then Safeway and Sprouts. The team also gave product to healthcare workers, which Rice says was to honour them, not for publicity. Look for supplier programs and genuine community acts alongside the normal pitch.
14:31:30 / tpnhpYkxYAjQmUXGTPMQFocus costs you deals, and that is the price of a reputation
Montana's inbox was flooded with sports investments, so he ruled the category out entirely. He admits the fund missed products like the Mirror fitness screen. He accepted the misses to be known for venture-type companies with venture-type returns and a goal of ten times each fund.
14:33:28 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHNot leading rounds and not taking board seats is a strategy
Because Liquid 2 does not lead and does not sit on boards, founders can talk to the fund about strategy that differs from what the lead investor wants, and the fund can buy secondary shares without creating signalling risk. Montana treats the smaller role as a sounding-board position that lead investors cannot occupy.
14:36:44 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHThe toughest question a backer asks is 'what is your succession plan?'
Montana says the hardest question a limited partner ever asked him was about succession, when he was not ready to leave. His answer in practice: stay managing member, let the partners chase deals, and shift his own time to supporting portfolio companies. Have your answer ready before someone asks.
14:37:41 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHSilence usually means a company is dying, but not always
Companies that stop sending monthly updates are typically about to shut down. Yet one portfolio company the fund had not heard from in a while came back raising at a 1.6 billion dollar valuation. Track the quiet ones and check in rather than assuming.
14:38:20 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHCompanies fail because the CEO does not know when to get out of the way
That is Ron Conway's lesson, and Montana applies it in both directions: some founders need to hand the CEO seat to someone else, and one of his own partners who started a new company needs to be talked back to the fund because his real strength is deal flow. Put people where their strength is, including yourself.
14:39:33 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHDo what is best for the team even when the decision is about you
Asked about being moved from operator to chairman while still expected to perform, Rice compared it to football: you do what is best for the team. As co-founder he sees his job as culture and building the right team, modelled on how 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo ran the club like a family.
14:41:47 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHTalent with baggage is still talent
Deion Sanders arrived with an entourage. Rice says you do not strip that away; you add it to the team because you know how much the player matters to winning. The condition is that the person fits the system and is part of the team; if not, you make the decision to let them go.
14:43:17 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHFamily members must out-earn the suspicion
Montana's sons grew up hearing 'your dad' and learned to ignore it. What earned Nathaniel respect at the fund was his record (growing a company from zero to ten million and selling it) and finally speaking up in Tuesday partner meetings. Once he did, the other partners saw he knew what he was talking about and the relationship became give and take.
14:45:56 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHThe best hire may be the one who tells everyone what they are doing wrong
Montana warned his partners they would hate his daughter Elizabeth because she would not hold back. After about eight months, the partner with the PhD said she was the best hire the firm had made. Prepare the team for a blunt operator and then protect her long enough to prove it.
14:48:31 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHLeadership is a daily buy-in, not a halftime speech
Asked how he rallied a team down 20 at halftime, Rice answered that leadership is something you buy into every day by proving you belong: first on the field, last off, learning something daily, encouraging teammates. You will not win every game, but if the effort was there you go back, make corrections and get the chance to win the big one.
14:52:27 / hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRHDo not quit on a struggling teammate; fix the funk
Montana never yelled at players because there are eleven on offense and all eleven are needed. When someone struggles, the question is how to get them out of it, not how to replace them. He says he never quit on anyone; he tried to help.
14:55:18 / hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRHSlumps come from trying to impress instead of doing the job
Rice says his rookie drops happened because he wanted to impress Montana and his teammates so much that he forgot the most important thing, catching the football. In practice everything was there. Teammates telling him to keep working hard is what carried him until it clicked.
14:56:09 / hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRHA second career is built the way the first was: apprentice, small bets, proof
Asked how he changed his identity from athlete to investor, Montana said he followed Ron Conway around to learn, then made small individual bets with his son Nathaniel, which grew into stakes in Pinterest and Dropbox. In the first fund, one in nine investments became a unicorn, and that record is what made people believe. Talk does not transfer identity; performance does.
14:58:28 / hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRHLove the work or you will under-invest in it
Both men closed with the same advice. Rice: enjoy what you do every day, work hard, be the leader and be there for your teammates. Montana: find something you love so you want to go to work every day, because you always put more into what you love, and that shows in the results.
15:00:18 / hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRHClaude skills from this session
Each one is a SKILL.md Claude can run with you. Open to read; copy or download; drop into ~/.claude/skills/.
Exercises & frameworks to run
Steps and the finished output for each. Speaker exercises and our written-out steps are labelled.
The First-Practice Standard
- Identify the next team, role or client you are joining, or one you joined in the last 90 days.
- Write down the one behaviour that would tell everyone you are accountable (Rice's version: run every catch to the end zone).
- Do it on every rep for 30 days, without announcing it.
- Keep a daily tick sheet. Note the first day a teammate comments on it or copies it.
Finish with: A 30-day record of one standard you set by example, and evidence of whether the team noticed
Evidence: 14:08:00 / kYdPSVgsD7gdGcPnBqDBShelf Velocity Scorecard
- List every product and every retail door or channel you sell through.
- For each, record monthly sell-through, gross margin to the retailer, and whether a reorder came in.
- Flag any product that is sitting rather than moving.
- For each flagged product decide one fix: the product itself, the price, the placement, or exiting that door.
- Repeat monthly and take the scorecard into every buyer meeting.
Finish with: A one-page scorecard that shows buyers the numbers they care about and shows you where to act
Evidence: 14:29:30 / tpnhpYkxYAjQmUXGTPMQThe 'Not Our Lane' Page
- Write the sectors, stages, customer types and roles your business will not take on, following Montana's list: no sports, rarely consumer products, seed or earlier, no leading rounds, no board seats.
- Under each rule, name one attractive opportunity you would have to decline because of it.
- Add any deliberate exception mechanism, the way Liquid 2 added a later-stage fund to follow its winners.
- Share the page with partners and re-read it before any deal that feels exciting.
- Review and edit the page once a quarter, never in the middle of a live decision.
Finish with: A written focus statement that protects your reputation and speeds up saying no
Evidence: 14:33:28 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHMonthly Update Ritual
- Create a five-line template: cash and runway, key wins, key problems, what you need, one number that matters most.
- Ask every company you back, or every team you manage, to send it on the same date each month.
- Keep a running list of who missed the update.
- Call the silent ones first; Montana says they are usually the ones shutting down, but occasionally the quiet one is raising at a huge valuation.
- Once a quarter, read three months of updates together to spot trends.
Finish with: A portfolio or team dashboard where silence is a visible signal
Evidence: 14:38:20 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHThe Get-Out-Of-The-Way Conversation
- Write down the evidence that the leader is in the wrong seat (for example a technical founder running a company that now needs a sales-led CEO).
- Define the role that keeps their real strength, such as CTO or chairman, and what the company gains from the change.
- Open the conversation with what is best for the company, as Rice framed his own move to chairman.
- Offer the new role before discussing removal of the old one.
- Agree a timeline and a follow-up meeting rather than forcing a decision in one sitting.
Finish with: A prepared, respectful script for the hardest conversation an investor or board member has
Evidence: 14:39:33 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHStar Integration Plan
- Name the high-talent, high-friction person joining or already on your team.
- List what is unique about them that you will not try to change (Deion Sanders kept his entourage).
- List the three to five team rules that are not negotiable.
- Meet them in week one, share both lists, and agree a 90-day check-in.
- Decide in advance what would cause you to let them go, so the decision is not emotional later.
Finish with: A written agreement that lets a star stay a star while fitting the system
Evidence: 14:43:17 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHThe 'Say It in the Room' Drill
- After each leadership or partner meeting, write down what you said in the hallway afterwards that you did not say in the room.
- In the next meeting, commit to saying one of those points out loud, early.
- Ask a senior colleague to tell you afterwards whether the point landed.
- Repeat weekly until the hallway list is empty.
Finish with: A habit of contributing in the meeting, which Montana says is what earned his son the other partners' respect
Evidence: 14:47:00 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHFamily Hire Pre-brief
- Before a family member joins, write the role, its authority and the public criteria they meet.
- Tell the team honestly what to expect, including the uncomfortable parts (Montana: 'you are going to hate her').
- Require the family member to earn respect through daily work, not through you.
- Schedule a review at six to eight months where the team, not you, assesses the hire.
Finish with: A family hire the team accepts on merit
Evidence: 14:48:02 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BHSlump Protocol
- When a teammate is under-performing, check whether the skill shows up in practice or lower-stakes work.
- If it does, keep giving them real opportunities instead of benching them; Montana kept throwing.
- Name the pressure out loud: Rice says his drops came from trying to impress rather than doing the job.
- Have peers, not just the boss, tell them to keep working.
- After each attempt, make one specific correction and move on.
Finish with: A repeatable way to get a talented person out of a funk without losing them
Evidence: 14:54:36 / hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRHWhat to do — and how often
Your checkmarks are saved on this device and shared with the Playbook.
- Every day for the first month, as Rice described being first on the field and last off speaker-statedEvidence: 14:52:55 / hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRH
- Every day ('Every day I showed up at work, I wanted to learn something different') speaker-statedEvidence: 14:44:33 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
- Monthly ('we always ask for monthly updates') speaker-statedEvidence: 14:38:20 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
- Weekly (Liquid 2 holds partner meetings every Tuesday) speaker-statedEvidence: 14:47:08 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
- Once, this week; re-read quarterly our recommendationEvidence: 14:33:28 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
- Every quarter our recommendationEvidence: 14:29:30 / tpnhpYkxYAjQmUXGTPMQ
- Once, this month our recommendationEvidence: 14:54:36 / hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRH
- Once, before the hire starts our recommendationEvidence: 14:48:02 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
- Once, this year our recommendationEvidence: 14:30:11 / tpnhpYkxYAjQmUXGTPMQ
- Once, this quarter our recommendationEvidence: 14:58:28 / hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRH
- Once a year, updated with your annual plan our recommendationEvidence: 14:37:41 / uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
Quotes in context
“I was going to earn that by the way I practice on the football field.”
Jerry RiceOn joining a two-time champion locker room as a rookie in 1985 and deciding how he would earn his place.14:07:50 · kYdPSVgsD7gdGcPnBqDB
“I was letting my teammates know that, hey, look, you lead by example, you show up, you are accountable every day and you work hard.”
Jerry RiceExplaining why he ran every practice catch to the end zone in his first camp.14:08:31 · kYdPSVgsD7gdGcPnBqDB
“If your drink is just sitting there, now there's a problem. You want people to empty the shelves because now you can get the reorders.”
Jerry RiceOn what retailers actually care about when they stock G.O.A.T. Fuel.14:29:55 · tpnhpYkxYAjQmUXGTPMQ
“If my name is on it, it got to be 100% real.”
Jerry RiceOn why the drink is all natural and certified safe for tested athletes.14:30:43 · tpnhpYkxYAjQmUXGTPMQ
“I didn't want to become known as a sports investor.”
Joe MontanaOn why Liquid 2 Ventures ruled out sports deals from the start, even at the cost of missed winners.14:33:28 · uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
“We don't lead rounds. We don't take board seats.”
Joe MontanaDescribing the fund's seed-stage positioning, which lets founders use it as a sounding board.14:36:44 · uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
“One of the other big reasons the company fails is the CEO usually doesn't know when to get out of the way.”
Joe MontanaRelaying what mentor Ron Conway taught him about founder transitions.14:39:33 · uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
“It's a difficult decision, but you got to do what's best for the company.”
Jerry RiceOn accepting a change in his own role at G.O.A.T. Fuel when a new CEO came in.14:41:47 · uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
“When you got an individual like that, you don't try to take that away from him.”
Jerry RiceOn Deion Sanders arriving at the 49ers with his own entourage.14:43:17 · uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
“Every day I showed up at work, I wanted to learn something different.”
Jerry RiceOn how a veteran mentors newcomers: by the standard he sets, not by lecturing.14:44:33 · uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
“When she comes on, you're going to hate her.”
Joe MontanaWarning his partners before bringing his daughter Elizabeth in to run operations.14:48:16 · uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
“I just want to tell you, you've hired a lot of good people, but your best hire was Elizabeth.”
Joe Montana, quoting one of his partnersWhat a partner told him about eight months after his daughter joined the fund.14:48:31 · uiImZA1JM5FSyEB9V6BH
“But I think the leadership every day is something that you have to buy into, and you have to prove yourself that you belong there.”
Jerry RiceAnswering an audience question about rallying a team that is down at halftime.14:52:27 · hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRH
“We need all 11 on offense to make things work.”
Joe MontanaOn why he never yelled at teammates and never quit on a struggling player.14:55:39 · hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRH
“I wanted to impress this guy, I wanted to impress my teammates that I forgot the most important thing, catching the football.”
Jerry RiceExplaining the drops in his rookie season.14:56:09 · hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRH
“If you're not performing, I don't care how much you talk about what you think you can do, but you have to go out and prove that you can do it.”
Joe MontanaOn how he rebuilt his identity from quarterback to venture investor.14:59:22 · hVIFCQIOGlBvrrimPsRH
Questions to ask yourself
- If I joined a championship team tomorrow, what one behaviour would show them I am accountable without saying a word?
- Do my retail partners reorder because my product moves, or because of my story? What would the sell-through numbers say?
- What categories, stages or roles have I ruled out in writing, and what have I said yes to lately that broke that rule?
- Who in my portfolio or team has gone quiet in the last month, and have I called them?
- Is there a leader in my business, possibly me, who is in the wrong seat and does not yet know it?
- Who on my team is in a slump because they are trying to impress rather than do the job, and am I still giving them the ball?
- If I brought a family member into the business, what would I tell the team on day one, and what review would I set?
- Do I love the work enough to want to show up every day for another decade?
Watch-outs
- Expecting a famous name, a big story or a personal reputation to keep a product on the shelf. Rice says retailers care about the liquid, the margins and the turns.
- Drifting into whatever deals fill your inbox. Montana ruled out sports investments precisely because that is all he was being sent, and accepted the missed winners as the price.
- Founders who do not know when to get out of the way, and investors who avoid telling them.
- Trying to strip a star of what makes them unique, or the opposite, letting a star ignore the system. Rice says you add their uniqueness to the team but they still have to fit.
- Letting a family member or junior partner stay silent in meetings. Montana had to push his son to say in the room what he said afterwards.
- Quitting on a talented teammate during a bad stretch. Montana kept throwing to a rookie who kept dropping passes because he knew what was in him.
- Assuming an unanswered succession question will not be asked. It was the hardest question a limited partner ever put to Montana.