How to build a successful startup team
The importance of a great team cannot be overlooked in a startup. You need a team that is as committed to the mission of your company as you are. You need to build good relationships with everyone in your team in order for your startup to succeed.
The most important relationship is with your cofounder. Choosing a bad cofounder can be a death blow for your startup. It is one of the most important decisions you would have to take before starting out on your journey. You cannot choose someone randomly to be your cofounder. You must choose someone who is friends with you for quite some time and you must have worked with that person some point in the past, so that even if things go haywire you can figure out a solution.
Your cofounder needs to be mentally tough and should know what to do in every situation. He must be decisive, creative and completely committed towards the mission of your company.
Once you have found a great cofounder, it is time to build up the rest of your team. You must set up very high bars for hiring new people. Do not rush into hiring large number of people. It’s good to have a small great team than a large mediocre team. If you compromise and hire someone mediocre you will always regret it.
You must take into account the following points before making a new hire.
• Is he or she smart?
• Can he or she get things done?
• Do I want to spend a lot of time around him or her?
• Does he or she possess good communication skills?
If the answer to all these questions is yes than you can think of making an offer. Once you have hired a great person you must make every effort to keep him around. Give him some challenging work and good equity options. Have frequent 1:1’s with him so that you get to know what is not working for him and how can you help him.
The success of your startup depends a lot on your team. So do not take this step lightly and devote sufficient time to build a great team.
