Startup that investors can’t resist

Team is very important part of a successful startup. Who wouldn’t want to work for a common goal with good friends? In addition, the good spirit of the team also stands out for the others and is an important determinant for the accelerators and incubators, since startups often don’t have a product or service to be distinguished from one another. In such cases, the team’s completeness and potential in making a prototype, strategy, marketing and in finding the first customer are what matters.

It seems like the closest reflection to a classical, yet perfect team, is the well-known composition from the movie “The A-Team”. While justice was the aim in the film, looking at the roles, the composition could be the same in a startup, which overcomes every obstacle for the same united vision, to be the next unicorn. Who belongs to the ideal team then?

• CEO (Hannibal) – the leader and the main idea-generator, planner and strategist.
• CTO (B.A) – the leader of technology, who knows everything about the enterprise’s product and its life story. Knows how to build and develop the product and stands for it being really a good thing. Pedantic and meticulous characteristics ensure that the product portfolio is exactly what it needs to be.
• The salesman (Faceman) – salesman and marketing provider. Likes performing in public and meeting people. Is best characterised as a “hustler“. Makes sales and creates customer relations with the support of good looks and a modicum of sneakiness.
• Engineer (Murdock) – somewhat crazy, teased in a positive way by teammates. The weirdo that teammates need to keep in check. Capricious and diffused at times, but immensely smart part of the team with all the twists.

All of these personas, along with their personalities, sound like a great team, and if you are still creating your startup, firstly mark your own role and then you can involve others via the given template. But how do you find such a team?

The right people are not found because of not knowing who to look for. Technical startup firstly looks for developers, but how do you get good developers from other enterprises to join? The main challenge to start with is describing the roles in the team. Is a developer really needed right now, or should it rather be a salesman first? You need to think about who you need in order to make the next step – this means that instead of a developer you need that “hustler” to find out the customer’s needs and wishes for the next development.

The important thing however, is to not have people who are similar to each other in the team. It is convenient to hire your course mates and friends, but the A-Team wouldn’t have been as successful if it only relied on one skill. Even though you like people like yourself, it is useful to take on people in your group who are a lot smarter than you and unexpectedly weird, but who fit together well as a team. Otherwise they will hinder you and your startup instead.