Chapter Seventeen

Building a Strong Founding Team

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
—African proverb

Think you can do it alone? Think again. The last thing you want to do is try to launch a venture on your own. Having a team can speed up your startup’s timeline, and it sends a signal to potential investors that you can persuade other people to believe in your idea. This skill is significant. Imagine an entrepreneur who can’t persuade people to join his team trying to persuade a customer to buy his product.

Here are some pointers to help you build a stronger team:

1. Ask an advisor to join your team.

   Starting a company with people is a lot like playing a team sport: there are competitions and funding pitches—some you’ll win and others you’ll lose. I believe it is essential to have a coach to have a successful team. By that logic, it doesn’t make sense to try to build a business team without an advisor. Find someone in your network, a friend, a mentor, or even someone you might just know who has had experience building a successful business (success marks in business to look for: being operational for more than ten years, selling a company for $5 million or more, doing several million in revenue annually, etc.). Make a list of eight to ten to start with; then narrow that list down in half to only those that you think might truly care about what you’re building because they have some personal connection to you or what you are trying to do. Then reach out to them to see if they would be willing to meet with you or check in via phone every two to three weeks and be on call as you work on building your business.

2. Ask for input on decisions that haven’t already been made.

   When you are heading up a company, there will be several instances where you will have to react on the spot or make an obvious decision. It doesn’t make sense to bring the entire team together to ask for their input. An update through email is usually sufficient for small decisions. However, make sure you always consult your team for larger decisions.

3. Never ask anyone on your team to do something you wouldn’t do.

   This tip is more than just literal. You shouldn’t give others on your team work just because you do not want to do it or would not enjoy doing it. Odds are they won’t enjoy it either. Instead, give them work because you need their help or you can’t do it.

4. Entrust key tasks to those who have the skills.

   In a small startup, early team members must be well versed at several things or at least willing to learn how to function in different roles. If you ask someone to do something that they don’t know how to do, they may lose motivation. Or, if they’re unwilling to learn, that’s a red flag.

   5. Delegate key tasks as evenly as possible.

   It’s hard to provide people an even amount of work, because they often have very different work styles and timelines. However, you can distribute work in a value-oriented way. For example, having a teammate focus specifically on your website is just as valuable to a startup as having someone focused on managing its finances. Both are valuable, but the upfront and maintenance work is very different.

6. Notice the small things that show you care. 

I’m really big on birthdays. Really early on with our founding team, I would always recognize when it was one of our teammate’s birthdays. It doesn’t necessarily have to be birthdays, but find something personal that shows you care.

As you can see, the small details are what can easily make a difference. If you want to build a strong team that stays by your side, then focus on the small details as well as the large.