This idea came to me out of the blue, and I originally called it Grand Slam Success before I even related it to an actual grand slam in baseball - weird. Without Dr. Ichak Adizes, I never would have had this idea. His books, especially Managing Corporate Lifecycles, were instrumental in forging this essay. Their descriptions of the early lifecycles of businesses were fodder for my more general theory of the ingredients of massive success.
There are four main components necessary to make it really, really big - in business or in any other endeavor. These relate directly to hitting a Grand Slam in baseball (for those outside the U.S (or Japan) that's what we call hitting a home run when the bases are loaded.)
The first component is proper vision, or insight. You need to have a good idea, basically. In baseball, this relates to intuiting where the ball is going to be before you swing. The better idea you have of where the ball will be, the more likely that you will hit it.
Second, one needs to take initiative, or risk. YOU have to take initiative or risk - quit your job, invest your $50,000 dollars - put your personal attention completely on your project: grandslam success requires strong commitment. The important point here is that YOU have to do it: you can't just hire someone (in any case I can imagine) to do a job that will bring you grandslam success unless you put in as many hours and as much effort as they do, otherwise the commitment won't be there. Taking initiative and risk yourself also implies that you are at the head of, and have ownership in, whatever project you're undertaking. In baseball this relates to committing to your swing.
Third, one needs strong follow through. Once you have committed to your idea, you need to see it through to completion. You have to put in long hours and really dedicate yourself. You have to be passionate and have a sense of ownership of the project - as Dr. Adizes points out - you need to be the project's parent. You are the one who takes care of it in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep. In baseball this relates to following through on your swing.
Fourth, one needs to have good luck. In baseball, if you are right about where the pitch is going, commit to your swing in that direction, follow through, and have good luck (ie. You were right about where the ball was going, you managed to get the bat to swing there, and your timing was right), you will hit the ball out of the field.
In talking to my business professor, I realized the final connection to a grand slam in baseball. My professor told me about his conversation with a wealthy businessman, who felt that his success stemmed largely from his giving other people the opportunity to get rich. This relates directly to hitting a grand slam in baseball - it's only a grand slam if the bases are loaded, i.e. it's only a grand slam if you and your team mates -- who have hit singles, doubles, and triples - all get to home. The analogy gets a bit backward here, but the thrust of it is that if you give other people (the kind of people who in the terms of this analogy will hit singles, doubles and triples - will have more moderate success) the chance to get rich, you will in fact get richer (as long as you make money when they make money.)
This makes sense: the opportunity to get rich attracts ambitious and talented people, who make your business more successful. If we examine not-for-profit projects, the same rule applies. Giving people the opportunity to get recognition makes them work harder; if you hog all the credit and say "this is my project, but you can help out if you want", you won't get as much help. Eric S. Raymond has proved amply that people in the open source software community write code in large part for recognition, or egoboo. All not-for-profit projects are probably subject to this fundamental desire of personal recognition.
This is just a 0-Draft and is by no means final. If you have any comments, please send them to me here.