If you got an offer/choice to join a start-up, what would you do? the answer changes from person to person, what would I do? frankly speaking I don’t know, what question’s would one have in mind? Well I have a few on top of my head…

Vision: ‘What is the Vision of the Founder?’
Vision is one of the most important thing that drives any creation whether it is a start-up of a fully grown organization without vision they are just a piece of dead meat No Life! It derives that irrational behavior which is of much importance when the ship is in the storm only an irrationalist believer can take it out of it.

Passion: ‘How much passion is put in?’
Passion is second most important thing, its one of those things which won’t let the founder settle for lower heights, people chasing money will always settle before the journey of their start-up has reached the tipping point, more or less it is the thing which decides the ‘Tipping Point’. Passion keeps the founder engaged and also the team immersed in the process of building something great. Passion is accompanied by two things: Dreams , Thirst & Thrust

• Dream

The founding dream serves as the road map to the progress of the product. It is at the core of every thing that comes along with the journey. I would like to be aligned with it and consider giving it a thought.

• Thirst & Thrust

How much thirst the founder has and what thrust is he getting it out of it also talks about the progress being made and progress in the future. Thirst directly translates to Thrust. More the thirst more the desire to achieve the dream and hence the motivation.

Difference: What difference is the product/service making?
It matters what difference the product makes in the lives of people who use it. The bigger the difference the bigger is the impact, greater is the value of the product.

Approach: to problem solving?
One important thing in problem solving is the approach, sometimes some problems are solved just by changing the approach but that approach should not be considered as a product or service, its just a way of doing things which can be adopted by many and hence can be very generic and be of lesser value, but at the same time it can benefit, if applied to a product or a service.

Clarity: In thinking?
Thought clarity is what a founder should have by default for that matter clarity in thinking is what everyone should practice. It gives a road ahead when things are messy, its a tool to dig a way from chaos, which most of the time what a startup is.

Odds: of success?
This one is a bit arguable even when you are the only person who is putting in your opinion, but a healthy discussion about the odds of success of a product or a service would definitely help you in decision making; in this case, whether I should join the startup or not? Optimism is one of the key ingredient to a healthy constructive discussion.

Gut Feeling:
I would consider talking to a founder before joining the startup, that would give me a lot of insight of the points discussed.