It comes down to potential, people and priorities.

Those are the lessons from Brian Steel, CEO and President of Volomedia, a provider of advertising and reporting solutions for downloadable video and audio, such as podcasts. 

Let's start with potential. For Steel, the business has to be big enough to be worthwhile. The business has to be in a market with significant potential to attract talent and capital. Otherwise, he's not interested.

Then there's people. "As the CEO of a small company, you're the proverbial head cook and bottle washer," said Steel. You need to competent people to handle their respective businesses, because many times you'll be fundraising. 

Thirdly, priorities. "You'll always be short on time, short on people and short on runway," he said. "You have to be able to stop each person in the hallway and make sure each team member knows what the company’s priorities are,' he said.

Make sure you have milestones and interim check points, and have those priorities calibrated.