No structure can be considered sound without a solid foundation. Good, firm foundations resist change, provide support, and create value and integrity. This, of course, is true in building. Whether for a lakeside cottage or a massive superstructure, the underpinnings on which anything is built are critical to the lasting value and appeal of every physical creation.

All that would seem self-evident, especially for those who rise to the top of their chosen fields, yet such is not always the case. Often, blind ambition obscures what is most basic, and therefore, most important.

Take Frank Lloyd Wright. Easily considered the greatest architect in American history, Wright's ambition to create a masterpiece homage to what would become known as organic architecture somehow shaded his view of what was the “right” thing to do when it came to his design of a home that would come to be known as Fallingwater.

At 67 years of age, Wright was already renowned for his designs when he was commissioned by business mogul Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. to create a summer home on Kaufmann's rural Pennsylvania property. By that point, Wright had designed nearly a thousand homes. But this was to be special. The house would be constructed at the top of a waterfall.

Wright nearly withdrew from the project after Kaufmann brought in an engineering firm to check his plans. The firm suggested that the structure's foundation would not be strong enough. Wright, ever more concerned with the art of the project, vehemently disagreed. So, to his credit and without Wright's knowledge, Kaufmann had extra reinforcement added to the foundation. The resultant building was, to Wright's vision, a true masterpiece, documented by the Smithsonian on its 1991 “Life List of 28 Places to Visit before You Die.” Yet, were it not for Kaufmann, the structure would likely not have survived.

What Wright lost sight of, Mark Ain did not. Mark understood the basic tenet that everything needs a solid foundation. “Everything” means that he used that axiom to build Kronos and his life.