Culture can also make a difference where you least expect it, Lassiter points out.

FORBES: Business Basics

Harvard Business School (HBS) Professor of Management Practice, Joe Lassiter, left Arkansas for school in Cambridge and stuck around.

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"The method by which Social Security assigns numbers has been a matter of public record for years, " said Lassiter.

CNN: Social Security number study raises fears

Mark Lassiter of the Social Security Administration said the threat is not significant.

CNN: Social Security number study raises fears

Over that span, Lassiter got to run about 25% of the company.

FORBES: HBS's Joe Lassiter Loves High Growth

Lassiter's client, who was outgoing and enthusiastic, felt so stymied that he quit after a year to start his own energy financing venture.

FORBES: Business Basics

And Lassiter pointed out, the HBS network gives budding entrepreneurs access to people who know what needs to be done and how to do it.

FORBES: HBS's Joe Lassiter Loves High Growth

After all, what intrigues Lassiter is making decisions in the light of incomplete and inadequate information and designing the lowest-cost experiments that can test those decisions.

FORBES: HBS's Joe Lassiter Loves High Growth

Pam Lassiter, a consultant in Boston and author of The New Job Security: The 5 Best Strategies for Taking Control of Your Career, had a client who worked in business development at a three-year-old energy technology company.

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