Some of the dearest thinking about integrity in the Internet economy comes from Darlene Mann, a general partner at Onset Venture; in Menlo Park California Her fro has bankrolled dozens of startups, and she has worked inside numerous high-tech companies. If executives want "integrity" to be more than just a buzzword in a mission gatemen; she say; they need to think hard about three izuer the growth goals that they promise to arstomers and investors, the a-
reer opportunities that they promise to employee; and the tone that they strike in day-to-day negotiations with business partners. In some case; Mann admowledges, keeping one's word canies extra shorter tom But wiggling away from the truth can be disastrously expensive in the long tun.
The paint says Mann, isn't that startups need to kegs of their ambitious dreanzs. But they do need to ensure that promises made to the outside world are believable to their own people. Otherwise, they will be built on a foundation of cynicism and distrust.
Source: George Anders, Honesty Is the Best Polity—Trust Us," tan Company, VoL 37 (August 2000), p. 262.