Martin Tobias needed two seasons of The Apprentice before swearing not to watch it again. I joined the first season halfway, then opted out before the finale. Anyway, I enjoyed Martin's thoughts about The Donald as a startup CEO:

I would NEVER want to work for The Donald. And moreover, I would NEVER hire anyone he thought was great. The Donald is an anachronism. His management style is straight out of the 50s. I mean the guy still wears suits every time you see him. Have you seen his penthouse? Did anyone bother to tell him that goldtone fixtures went out with the French Revolution? The Donald is straight from the "my way or the highway" management style. Which, by the way I like VERY MUCH in an early stage start-up CEO.... And he makes quick decisions and doesn't look back. That is all good in a fast changing environment.... But I would never want to work for the guy. And his style would not work in a tech start-up because unlike the real-estate business, in tech the CEO has to hire people who are intellectually superior to himself (they are called developers). The CEO is usually not the most technically proficient person in a tech start-up. But he has to know how to recruit and motivate them. For all his bluster, Larry Ellison knows how to do this. So does Bill Gates. The both have very abrasive in your face management styles, but also have a culture of meritocracy. Challenge everyone and let the smartest win. The Donald may be like this, but I doubt it. He has too much of an ego.... The Donald asks people for their opinion, but I don't really think he wants it. All of the truly smart people I know are innately curious. I don't get the feeling that the Donald is innately curious or interested in much other than what he thinks he already knows.

The Donald is easy to dislike, but I disagree with Martin's assessment. Ego? The Donald has it, and so do many startup CEOs. Meritocracy? My sense is that The Donald has that in his organization, too. My way or the highway? As Martin observes, this is probably a good thing in a startup. After all, it has to be someone's way! Suits? Who cares about suits?

In my view, a Donald-clone would make a good startup CEO. The Donald is way too distracted with his current ventures, but create someone more focused with the same personality and style, and he could be dynamite. Not that I would want to work for him, but that is a completely different matter.

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