A great team is critical to startup success. The document discusses key qualities of effective startup teams, including leadership providing direction, a range of complementary skills, chemistry between team members, passion and commitment to seeing the venture through challenges, and inclusive decision-making that values all ideas. While no team will be without gaps, self-awareness of weaknesses is important. Ultimately, action is more important than planning, as progress requires teams to work together to execute their vision.

1. You can do something, a
team can do anything…
From Sunstone Communication
Limited
January 2015

2. ©Sunstone Communication Ltd 2015
Introduction
One of the entrepreneur challenges
posed at the 9Others dinner on 16 July
concerned bringing someone into the
founding Startup team. Not sure I had
many ideas on the night to now about
how best to do this but it did get me
thinking about teams. The theory
supports this view as well. Professor
Jason Greenberg from NYU Stern
concludes that 65% of Startup failures
are due to team issues rather than
product or market failure. I have already
written a couple of times about the
importance of teams when making a
Startup investment decision and I think
this is true for the vast majority of
investors. So what makes a good Startup
team?
Enjoying the 9Others dinner in
Edinburgh – 16 July 2014 with organiser
Tadas Labudis, Jamie McHale, Stefan
Raue, Lee McLaughlin, Marco de
Nichilo, Renata Pilikinaite and others..

3. ©Sunstone Communication Ltd 2015
Leadership
Teams need leadership. This
doesn’t mean someone has to
be “in charge” but for any task
there needs to be direction
and ambition. Leadership also
means followership. Whoever
is providing the direction, the
others need to follow for that
moment or that idea. Note one
other basic fact. In a one
person team there can be no
leaders by definition. Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones guide to
authentic leadership. Check put Gareth
on YouTube as well… a great speaker.

4. ©Sunstone Communication Ltd 2015
Skills
A range and balance of skills is also
vital. Three people who enjoy coding
together but don't do marketing or
strategy is not a great team. A
minimum of technical skills to create
the product plus sales and marketing
is needed. Good operational or
project management skills are a real
bonus. Creativity and strategic
thinking are are also necessary but
ay come from a combination of
founders rather than one key
individual.
"The ideal founding
team is two individuals,
with a history of working
together, of similar age
and financial standing,
with mutual respect.
One is good at building
products and the other
at selling them."
Naval Ravikant
Founder – Angels List

5. ©Sunstone Communication Ltd 2015
Inclusion
Whatever the number it will be a very
small group so chemistry between
the individuals is essential. You can
checklist the skills required but how
they combine is an art not a science.
A past history of working together
(and not trying to kill each other!) is
the only reliable indicator but may
not be possible. One other thing I
look out for is inclusiveness. If
everyone’s ideas are not valued
highly then the group probably isn’t
working. It is also crazy. If you only
have three people, leaving someone
out is a pretty spectacular waste of
resources.

6. ©Sunstone Communication Ltd 2015
Passion
Logically you might think that a
passion for the business would
also be a good sign of an
effective team. Certainly
passion is required and heart
on the sleeve passion is often
the most welcome sense from
any Startup pitch. However,
just because everyone is
passionate does not mean that
they can harness those
passions together so be
careful not to rely on just this.
Cally Russell CEO of Mallzee is
passionate about his business but a
focused leader as well.

7. ©Sunstone Communication Ltd 2015
Commitment
Of equal importance with passion is
commitment. Any great Startup is a
long tough haul. A failing Startup is
even harder. The core founding team
needs to be on board for the
duration. One tough aspect of this
can be the way equity is shared in
the business. There is no right
answer to the value of each
individual and it is very much a
choice for the team. As an investor
though I will look to be confident that
all of the founders are motivated by
their share.
Leah Hutcheon CEO of Appointedd
demonstrates her commitment to
helping her customers do more of what
they love every day.

8. ©Sunstone Communication Ltd 2015
Mind the gap
This is a pretty tough list and it
could be much longer. One
article I found in researching
this piece offered 101 tips for
building a Startup team! Bear
in mind that in every team
there will be gaps. In fact I
actively look for gaps. A team
with no gaps is either trying to
kid me or is just kidding
themselves. Deceiving
yourself about weaknesses is
one of the worst mistakes you
can make.

9. ©Sunstone Communication Ltd 2015
Action
There is one last thing that
overrides all the others and is
the one gap that can’t be
covered. Action. It is easy to
create a group of friends. A
successful business team is
much more than friends and
so much harder to build. The
Startup team needs to do
things, not necessarily fast, not
always right, sometimes not
even well but there is no
progress without action.
”Its hard to beat a
person who never gives
up."
Babe Ruth

10. Summary
A great team is critical to success for any
business.
The right leadership and skills are the
foundation of a team. Passion and
commitment are also vital ingredients.
Whatever the group, it needs to operate
inclusively and maximise the contribution
of very team member.
In a start up, there will always be gaps in
your skills and experience. Be aware of
them but don’t be distracted by them.
Whoever is in your team, action speaks
louder than words.
Sunstone Communication
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©Sunstone Communication Ltd 2015