Startup Team Values

I had this discussion on team values with one of my mentors (Director of Engineering at Fortune 500 Tech).

My thoughts on what I look for in teammates:

Do they bring integrity, clarity, and energy to the team?

1. Integrity. This goes without saying. Nothing is more important. It is the foundation to everything. Are they honest to others and to themselves? Do they take care of both themselves and the people around them? Do they prioritize giving over taking?
2. Clarity. Simply put, do they know what their priorities are? Do they know where they are going? Do they set clear hypotheses, spot assumptions, and ask the right questions? Do they systematically step through problems? Can they communicate with structure, logic, and analogy? Do they understand context during and away from conversations? Do they organize their life, whether it’s their code, folder, or workspace? This is partly about intelligence, but many intelligent people spend decades being confused.
3. Energy. Do they relentlessly go after their goals? Do they bring drive, passion, and excitement? Do they execute over and over again such that it makes them intimidating? Do their actions back up their words?

Words of wisdom from my mentor:

“I think it is good general guidance. If we follow these to find teammates, it is really hard to find someone matching this well on all aspects. We have to tailor it based on the roles. So, it depends on what is the role of the teammate you are looking for. Are you finding a life partner? A business partner? A CTO, a PM head, a sales head, a tech lead, or a normal employee? Along this line, if you are leading a big organization, it is okay to have a normal teammate (not part of your core leadership team) who is not that strong on virtue, but is capable of performing in the defined role.” Brilliant.

My response:

“Just to push back a bit — I agree with what you said and I think it’s absolutely brilliant. With early-stage companies, what I have observed is that people are not nearly specialized like they are at larger companies. And I have found that the role-based mindset to be detrimental for some people; it prevents them from being company and problem-focused. They convince themselves that they are limited to only their portfolio. Particularly for early hires (employees and contractors), their initial function should not be difficult (e.g. build an UI). But their ability to grow with the company and set the culture has a much bigger impact on the company’s long-term success. Just my thoughts. I am loving this discussion.”

Mentor:

“Yes, totally agree when talking about early-stage companies. In this case, it is very wise to use this approach. It is about the culture of the company. To a certain extent, this should be good guidance for hiring the first 1000 employees, if you want to set the culture right.”

To my future teammates: if this excites you, please reach out! To my fellow founders, please share and add your thoughts! My friends and I have started a new YouTube and Spotify series to explore these kinds of topics every two weeks. Please join us, like, and subscribe!