A startup is the formation of a new business venture, and if you are looking for help in starting your own, you need to know how to form a perfect startup founding team. It has been found that 80% of startups fail due to a lack of a founding team– it is essential to have a great start. A good startup founding team can protect the company from external forces like funding issues and market forces; their egos and weaknesses work in tandem, leading them towards success.
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What is a Startup Founding Team
A startup founding team consists of any number of people who take on an entrepreneurial venture together. The team works together towards the shared vision and mission, taking on the risks and rewards. The members of a founding team will usually be legally bound to each other by a contract or agreement, such as shareholders’ agreements or limited partnerships agreements.
Who Makes up a Startup Founding Team
The first step in establishing your startup is to get the right people around you. Unfortunately, no one solution fits everyone’s kind of approach; it ultimately depends on what your startup is about. You will need a startup founding team that is compatible with you, understand the idea you’re working on, and offer valuable insights. Thus, it would help if you did your homework first.
A startup founding team consists of the visionary, the hustler, the hacker.
The Visionary
The visionary maintains a visionary mindset and keeps the team focused on its goals. A visionary’s job is to keep the spaces clear so that the rest of the team can get their tasks done. When the visionary is inspired to do something, they see how the ideas are being executed, and if they are working towards a noble goal, they become a driving force. Amongst startups, this person becomes the face and voice of the project.
The Hustler
In some cases, you may need both a visionary and a hustler, but one person is enough in most cases. The hustler is the team’s go-getter. They’ll always be working towards a goal no matter what their task is at any given time. The hustler has an unwavering focus on accomplishing their tasks.
The Hacker
A hacker’s role is to get the product to work as expected. The hacker focuses on building the product. A solid hacker understands how all the moving parts come together and can break everything down and rebuild it at a moment’s notice.
How Find a Startup Founding Team
Founders must have high standards in choosing people for their startup founding team. Otherwise, they might end up with weak management, low productivity, and poor morale. They should also be vigilant and selective when hiring people.
Identify core values
The first step in building a perfect startup founding team is identifying the core values that you will have as a team. This will set the tone for your vision, strategy, and operations. The founding team startup members need to have the same values because they are legally obligated to work together towards common goals and take on risks and rewards together. Values of a startup founding team is one attribute that most startup investors analyse.
Have mutual agreement
A startup founding team may consist of any number of people who take on an entrepreneurial venture together. The founding team startup will be legally bound to each other by an agreement. This can be a shareholders’ agreement or a limited partnership agreement.
Look for skills
The best founding team startups are those that have complementary skills, shared values, and a shared vision. While personality is an essential aspect of the startup founding team, it should not get in the way of business goals and values.
When identifying people for a startup founding team, you should look for people who share similar values and who are passionate about what you’re doing. You need to have a good mix of people with different skills to launch your company successfully.
Also read: How To Incorporate A Company In 5 Steps
Building a Startup Is Hard!
A startup founding team makes it easy to surmount obstacles and innovate faster than competitors.
Values of a Perfect Team
A perfect startup founding team needs to share values and responsibilities. Founders need to understand the responsibility of bringing together a group of talented people, ensuring that they are all working in their area of expertise, and making sure they work well together. The founders also need to understand the responsibility for providing a vision or direction for the company, setting standards, and guiding people in their performance.
Adaptability
A startup founding team must be able to adapt quickly in response to market conditions and customer feedback. A startup can’t afford to have a team that is slow to react to changes. The team needs to be able to work together effectively to respond quickly and efficiently.
Skillful
A founding team should be a group of people who are motivated by the same values. They should have complementary skills and experience, and they should work well together towards the shared vision.
Communication
Communication starts at the top. If you don’t communicate well with your team, it will be tough to instill nurturing or leadership. If you’re working for a startup, there are many risks involved. And lack of effective communication is the reason for startup failures. The goal of any situation is to make the most of your work role to keep the show running.
Passion and trust
People are motivated by their passion for the work and the company’s goals. When the startup founding team is passionate about what they do, they’ll work harder and more efficiently than if they’re not. You should pick people who share similar values to make decisions quickly, communicate with each other well, and have high levels of motivation and commitment.
The lack of a good board is a killer.
Final Thoughts
Building a startup is no easy task. There’s plenty to keep track of, and these values should always be present along the way. The right values in a team are what makes a company great.
It is important to consider and carefully weigh a team’s strengths, weaknesses, personality dynamics, and compatibility before selecting them as your primary startup founding team. This is particularly true if you are building a startup that relies on team members’ bodies of knowledge or skills.
Hire these three people for your startup: a visionary, a hustler, and a hacker, then your startup will be well underway towards success! Good luck!
