Advice from Angie Hicks, the founder of Angie’s List offers advice for entrepreneurs and business owners:

What she did possess, she says, was focus and persistence. “Those core competencies were key to driving my career, and have driven what I’ve done since day one at the company,” she says. At the beginning, she measured her success building Angie’s List “one member at a time.”

“Balance your differences. Find people who are going to shore up your weaknesses. Think about building out your team and always be evaluating what the team is missing,” she advises. “When you’re thinking about how you’re spending your time, think about who you’re hiring. That’s going to make the difference in your success.”

“Let your people swim, but don’t leave the pool,” she says. She says employees need latitude to take on risks and fail. “Create a culture with your team that allows them to be open and come and talk to you. I tell them, ‘I know things are going to go wrong, just make sure I’m the first one who knows so I can help you fix it’,”

Angie Hicks, http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/blogs/profit-minded/angie-list-lessons-building-great-team-221247251.html