Transcript
23 % of startups fail because of the team according to the recent CB Insights report. Not having the right team is nr. 3 reasons why startups fail, not because of their competition, business model or too high costs, but because of the TEAM.
Besides, the statistics I heard a lot of real-life stories where either the co-founder split went very bad or the team had an enormous disagreement. Because we are all humans, exactly this human factor plays a huge role in the outcome of your business success.
In fact, one of my female business eagles friends had to lose a lot of money, because the startup founders had a huge personal disagreement, although the product they were planning to launch had enormous potential.
And I had a co-founder as well. And co-founding indeed feels like a marriage, because in the launch phase you would spend with this person the most of your time. And I already had to experience a co-founder breakup. Which feels like I have already been divorced at least one time.
It was not only challenging in terms of emotional & psychological pressure but as it always happens I had to pay off my co-founder. Which was quite painful, because as an entrepreneur you need to watch every penny & you would want to rather invest your money into the growth of your company, than putting it into your former co-founder’s pocket. But out of this situation, I learned a lot about myself & about the kinds of people I want to work with.
Here is what I learned in terms of looking for a co-founder or building a startup team & I want to share it with you. And of course, there are a lot of examples of startups founders & teams who are very successful and who share some common qualities that I am going to talk about.
While choosing a co-founder you need to pay attention to the following 6 qualities of that person.
- You co-founder need to share with you:
- Your Vision
- Similar Values
- He is she needs to be able to priorities business interests instead of ego
- You co-founder shall be able to focus on solutions rather than on the problem.
- He or she shall be a willingness to invest money and not only time.
And the last you both need to have complementary skills not duplicate them, so you don’t run into unconscious competition
Once you know you want to work together with this specific person, take your time, work together a few months before getting into incorporation. Once you are ready to find together, make sure you agree upon the procedure in the case on disagreements accrue, be very precise & thoughtful about it.
While building or hiring a startup team, pay attention to the following 4 aspects.
- The long term person motivation
- The passion for your vision
- And the ability to learn fast & adapt to change.
- Honestly
Indeed the best people, I’ve ever worked with are the people who had exact the three qualities. Every time I went to qualifications rather than a person’s motivation, it was the dragging experience.
And even if they are not so extremely experienced, having a growth mindset, meaning willing to learn & grow, these are the right people to have on your side. Trust in people and their abilities, make space for them to grow and it will always come back to you multiplied.
Look for honest people & always be willing to give honest feedback
