Picking the “best” Startup Team

fm The Next Web.com 01 Oct 15 enhanced by Peter/CXO Wiz4biz

Once you determine, if you have a good business idea or not, one of the early steps in building your business is putting the right team in place. There are five key drivers to consider when setting up your management team:

1. The Right Skill-sets. Let’s talk about these first two together, as they go hand in hand. For example, you’d think it would be pretty self-explanatory that for a Chief Marketing Officer hire, you should find a candidate with strong marketing skills. But, the tactics differ for different types of marketing vehicles (e.g., digital, print, TV, direct mail), different industries require different expertise (e.g., E-commerce business vs. catalog business) & B2C companies require different skill-sets vs. B2B companies (e.g., marketing vs. sales skills).

2. Prior Startup Experience So, it is important prior to hiring, to make sure you find someone that has deep knowledge of your specific industry and has successfully scaled up businesses within your desired budget range. You need to find someone who knows how to organically & virally grow your business on the cheap in new kinds of ways (e.g., social media, mobile, SEO), rolling up his sleeves and doing it himself on a shoestring. So, past start-up experience is a virtually mandatory.

3. The right Personality Fit. As we all know, startups are a 24/7 type of job. So, you are going to be spending a lot of time with your co-workers. It is critical there is a good personality fit between the team, as in those late night hours, the last thing you need is someone getting on your nerves or, having one member of your inner circle the pariah within the company that nobody wants to work with. You don’t have time for these types of issues while you are trying to win the start-up race.

4. Shared Vision. Equally important, it is critical that each member of your team share a unified Vision on exactly what you are building. As an example, let’s say we want to build a car, which seems clear enough at the 30,000 foot view. But, when you drill down to the specifics, it is important the team know we all are heading down the same path – with the same goals.

5. Passion. And, most importantly, it is critical that all involved have a deep passion for the product and “fire in the belly” in order to move at light speed and quickly own your market. This is not a 9 to 5 job. This is a passion you are living and breathing in real time.
Going back to our Chief Marketing Officer example, somebody that has come from a cushy role, managing a big team of employees with private secretaries and big budgets, most likely is going to have a really tough time going back into the trenches, rolling up their sleeves, and putting in the required long hours.

Conclusion: So, in the words of Bo Schembechler, the former Michigan football coach at my alma mater: it is all about “The Team! The Team! The Team!” that will ultimately win you your championship.

Comments: Is there anything you can add to picking a Team?