Building a Kick-Ass Team
A simple checklist for staffing your startup
When you’re starting a company, bringing the right people on board is critical. Obviously, when you’re first starting out, you won’t be able to afford a full-time salesperson or a marketing department, but there are certain skills and personality types you should look for as you build your team.
Your startup needs:
The Visionary
This is someone who sees the big picture for your idea and wants to change the world with it.
The Leader
This is someone who’s excited and committed to your idea, and who can drive the business forward when things get tough (and they will).
The Manager
Someone who’s detail-focused, can organize the work that needs to be done, and can ensure that it actually gets done.
The Salesperson
Someone who’s enthusiastic about your idea, convincing, and highly connected to your target markets.
The Marketer
Someone who understands how to identify markets and spread your idea to others at scale.
The Product Expert
Someone who knows how your competitors’ products work and where the opportunities are in the market.
The Doers
The people who breathe life into your idea, whether they’re programmers, engineers, distributors or others.
If your startup is still in its infancy, you probably have a team of two or more people, and each of you is probably filling two or more of the above roles. Be sure somebody is covering everything. If there are gaps, you need to fill them, either with equity partners, new hires or consultants.
A word of caution: be wary of growing too fast. Hiring consultants to handle specific projects may be more expensive in the short term, but often it can get you farther, faster, and you won’t be left with a salary to pay during dry spells.
The bottom line:
An amazing team + a great idea = an unstoppable company.
