When iLike launched a Facebook application, the social network’s burgeoning traffic crushed the music service’s servers.  Subsequently, iLike’s company founder (and my fellow countryman) Ali Partovi made an empassioned plea for servers, servers, and more servers.It was a tough constraint to meet demand for, for sure, but ultimately, in today’s climate of cheap hardware and open source software, it was a resource that could be somewhat easily met (tell that to iLike… but I digress).

But when it comes to managing a startup, for sure the greatest challenge is managing human resources.  For one, unlike machines, human beings are all about mind, body and soul, and that means they are dynamic creatures.

I won’t write about the intricacies of managing human beings, I’ve done that quite a but, particularly in Entrepreneurship vs. Intrapreneurship.  I should admit that there remained a pretty large hint of bitterness in my mouth towards my erstwhile colleagues when I wrote that, but time heals most (if not all) wounds…

This post isn’t so much about to manage people and their inner feelings and emotions, but rather how a CEO needs to develop a farm system to have people in place, ready to step up for the challenge the day when you are given the proper resources to scale and build a championship team.

It’s not easy in that until you have the resources, you have to be extremely conservative and judicious with every penny that goes out the door, but you need to plant the seeds and foster the relationships so that when you can grow the company quickly, you have identified the people that will help you win the title.  Of course, the key is to manage your financial resources carefully after you raise capital too, but by doing your job of identifying the people you can go to battle with before, then you can ensure that you don’t waste any bullets or time…

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