NetQoS was founded by Joel and his wife, Dr. Cathy Fulton, in 1999. The company provided network performance management software to large enterprises and counted 17 of the Fortune 25 as customers. Joel led the company as CEO to 31 consecutive quarters of double-digit year over year growth before being sold to CA, Inc. in 2009. The company was valued at $200 million giving the NetQoS investors a 10X return on their investment.

The CEO Tightrope

No CEO can find a point of balance and then stand still – that’s not even possible on a tightrope. The expectation is that the business must always move forward.

The American CEO walks a tightrope daily…many times blindfold and without a net. The job of balancing the often-competing interests of a company’s constituents is so challenging that the average lifespan of a newly minted CEO is around five years. Why is it that individuals who have been wildly successful at every other position in their career often fail when they get to the CEO chair?