5 magical characters in your startup!

Ehsan Azari
Sep 1, 2018 · 3 min read

A couple of weeks ago read a useful post in Persian from Sahand Behnam who is one of like-minded friends.

He was mentioned some characteristics each successful thought room should have and I couldn’t agree more. So decided to share it in English and mix it with my thoughts (Italic) as well.

5 magical characters in your startup:

1) Starter

Full of new ideas (bad ideas — Originals, Adam Grant), creativity, and passion!

Usually they’re founders. They generate tons of bad ideas and most of the times can’t implement their ideas and bring them to reality.

Starters are looking for problems as the best opportunities to start something new. They’re best choices for evolution in companies.

Starters hate Challengers.

Don’t let them implement any idea individually, because do it partial or even don’t start to do.

2) Challenger

Personally they are looking for invisible risks and issues in ideas. In Challengers view, if everything is OK, probably smell a rat!

Let Challengers to find risks and issues but don’t let authorities more than enough, because with no doubt will fire dangerous creature named Starter!

Make a list from Challenger concerns after investigation, and let Expert check them out. If Expert doesn’t have any solution to them, let Starter think about them.

3) Expert

Expert’s most important role is to choose the best specialists to implementing the idea or project.

Expert not like Starter is excited and holistic and not like Challenger is skeptic, cautious and narrow. She/he without any emotions give her/his profession available to the team.

Notice that just knowledge is not enough and Expert should have relevant experience too.

It is better you have some experts in your team to prevent canalization!

4) Finisher

Nothing will be completed without Finisher!

Not a daydreamer! Not a critic! Isn’t happy for Starter’s start ups! Escapee from Challenger critics!

Usually is not risky, is logic! Don’t like much excitement and show off. Don’t like start new thing until finish her/his job. Loves order and prefer finish baked idea rather than be in ideation stage.

If Challenger can’t pull rug from under Starter, certainly Finisher will do!

If have some open projects, use some Finishers, not one.

5) Supporter

Putting all these inconsistent characters like Starter, Challenger, Expert, Finisher together is really hard job and actually these opposite characters cause innovation and movement in team, but don’t forget they’re human, not machine!

The existence of someone who is accepted and respected by all and can solve tensions in the team is vitally important!

Supporter is a character that usually leader do her/his role, but sometimes Starter is leader and there’s a certain need for Supporter as an individual character.

Supporter is kind, responsible, tenacious, powerful, neutral, and meanwhile decisive.

If someone be able to stand in front of you as a leader, who is Supporter.

Finding and keeping this character is vitally important and sensitive, because have the potential to be future leader in your startup or company.


Hope this article be useful to you.
So what do you think about yourself? Which one are you?

Ehsan Azari

Written by

Founder | Architect | Multipotentialite | Accelerating Smart Cities, Digital Built Environment, and Circular Economy

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