You may have a great idea, but your company’s fate depends in large part on the strength of your team. In fact, many venture capitalists say that the character, complementary skill sets and working style of the key players are some of the most important factors in selecting companies in which to invest.
We spoke with Naeem Zafar, who teaches entrepreneurship at the University of California, Berkeley, and serves as CEO of startup Bitzer Mobile, to walk us through the steps you should take to assemble a group that will start you on the road to profitability.
The Founders
The first and perhaps most difficult step is to evaluate your business partners. “The quality of people in this phase will define the DNA of the company later,” Zafar says. “It’s critical to be ruthless.”
He points out that having even one person who is not up to snuff can derail the entire team. “It’s very difficult to find the A players if you have a couple of B players,” he says, “and very quickly you end up a mediocre organization.”
The key, he adds, is to “ask yourself every day: In the whole world, are these the best people I could be working with?” If the answer is yes, it’s time to designate roles and divide responsibilities.
“When we were starting our last company, we decided that for anything technical, my co-founder would make those decisions ultimately–so we would not debate them ad nauseam–and for anything business-related, I would make the decision,” he says.
Now is also the time to figure out the company’s equity structure–a crucial step that will help avoid expensive legal problems down the road.
Advisors, part-timers, contract hires
There are five types of advisors essential to any startup: a market/domain expert, a connector (a well-connected person willing to make introductions), an industry celebrity (who will lend a name but not necessarily be directly involved), a personal coach and a technical expert. Attend industry events and read business journals, trade publications and blogs to find people who may want to work with you. “See who you have the right chemistry with, who is intrigued by your idea and who you can rely on,” Zafar says.
As the business grows, if tasks start to go undone due to lack of time or expertise, it’s time to bring in extra personnel. Determine what skills you and your partners are lacking and seek out part-timers and contractors to fill in the gaps. Zafar suggests searching LinkedIn for people with the expertise you need, then sending a straightforward e-mail requesting a few minutes of their time: “Typically four out of 10 people will say yes if you approach them honestly, correctly and with an interesting topic.”
Any outside help should sign a legal agreement that enforces confidentiality and confirms that you retain ownership of any work produced.
Full-time staff
When should you hire your first full-time employees? Often, finances will dictate your readiness to take this step. When you score an infusion of capital–whether through bootstrapping, venture capital or a bank loan–you’re ready to add staff and kick your company into a higher gear.
When considering candidates, think about whether they have the temperament necessary to succeed at a startup. In brand-new companies, business processes and roles are often fluid, and the ability to be flexible is a must. “I’m highly skeptical of somebody who has been too long at a big company because they simply don’t understand that [at a startup] there is no job definition–you do whatever it takes,” Zafar says.
Ultimately you have to find people who can pull their own weight and work for the greater good. “You have to decide: Are you going to hire people who have major strengths or are you going to hire people that lack major weaknesses?” Zafar says. “The funny part is people who have major strengths also have major weaknesses … the ultimate example would be the New York Yankees, or a pirate ship, where everybody is extremely good and has extremely big egos and they almost can’t stand each other, but as a team they somehow make it work. Not every founder is comfortable with that; most want harmony. But harmony doesn’t create excellent products.”

Within the first 48 hours of using Launchrock, GRAPPPLE received over 200 individual signups.  But which should come first? Launchrock or “The Dream Team”?
First, you need The Team.
As a young entrepreneur who has launched a few ideas on LaunchRock, I can say from experience that great ideas will have a much better chance at success when they are backed by a similarly great team. No matter how incredibly genius an idea is, the world won’t respond to a poorly executed idea that is quickly splattered on a landing page, shared on Facebook or Tweeted a few times. Ideas are nothing more than ideas until you execute. Words of wisdom from successful entrepreneurs like Steve Blank and Dan Martellconclude, the team is just as important if not more then the “idea” or “technology” your company is based on. Here are my 4 keys to building a Dream Team of talented individuals that form a well-rounded, idea implementation machine.

Step 1. Understand yourself
Step 2. Network
Step 3. Look beyond talent
Step 4. Start the Magic

Step 1: Understand yourself
This is one of the hardest parts for most and it’s time to get out of denial. What are your weaknesses? You’re not going to be able turn your idea into action by yourself. You need to focus on finding a team that compliments your strengths and overlaps your deficiencies. If you’ve had prior career success in sales and marketing, realize that you need to partner with technical and design expertise to collaborate and build the product. Don’t outsource your team! It’s a major mistake, money pit, and you’re ignoring the most important part of a startup, the team. Building a startup isn’t a linear process, it’s full of pivots with ups and down and constant changes and you’re all going to need to be there together to succeed.
Step 2: Network
You’re dating, you’re seeking a partner(s) to get in bed with your idea. Just as you would go about finding your soulmate, attend events where you’re more likely to meet the skills and experience you’re looking for. Meaning if you need an awesome designer, don’t waste your time looking for referrals at the weekly PHP meetup. Go to Meetup.com or Eventbrite and find events that designers will attend. Also, keeping your ideas as “top secret” is amateurish. The more people you share it with the better. Why? You’re going to learn and receive a whole lot of help along the way. Won’t someone steal it? No, the hardest part of any idea is making it reality. You’re the one with the passion and if it’s a good idea you’ll get referrals to create it faster then anyone else.
Step 3: Look beyond talent
Team building on steroids takes place every weekend at hackathons and Startup Weekends. Go to one, and actively participate even if it’s not your idea. At the event, PLEASE don’t be the one who is looking for free development hours or free marketing help. People are not machines and don’t abuse the younger generations. You need to work in order to earn the respect of others. On the other hand, I would recommend profiling those you speak to about joining your team. It’s obvious that you want the most talented individuals, but if you’re making a product for those who love going outside, don’t waste time trying to convince the engineer who spends their free time on Xbox 360. Another common problem is finding potential teammates who are content working for Google, Oracle, Facebook etc. Realize, entrepreneurship isn’t in their blood, and move on. They won’t join you until you’re the top story onHacker News. Most importantly, look for the passion. When you first tell them your idea, look for their fire to start and if it doesn’t ignite, move on quickly. Down the line, when it comes to reaching a milestone the passionate ones will be those joining you for 12+ hour days to complete it.
Step 4: Start the Magic
The magic of the startup “dream team” is when you first get together. During our first meeting, I laid out the original idea and we ripped it apart for a week. Out from the brainstorming mess of whiteboards came the gem of an MVP (minimum viable product) produced by all of us: GRAPPPLE. Afterwards, keep the magic alive by giving everyone ownership of the product and their role within the team. It also helps to get recognition for the team’s progress wherever you can whether the local newspaper, contests, Reddit, etc.
Meet the GRAPPPLE Team:

We came together in January and were one of the winners at Startup Weekend San Luis Obispo. Fast forward a few months, one pivot, and after 1,200+ hours of work producing 25,000+ lines of code we launched our alpha just a few weeks ago. This summer we’ve been invited to the SLO Hothouse accelerator and we’ll be launching our beta soon!
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Garrett Lauringson, Co-Founder of GRAPPPLE, a web and mobile application inspiring the world to accomplish their goals & share their achievements through connected communities. You can follow Garrett @GLsmoove.
 

Who doesn’t want to be surrounded by a team of amazing professionals? The reality is that actually building a dream teamtakes incredible resolve and focus. It also takes a knack, a bit of the intangible but above all, a passion. Very few people actually succeed at building the envy of all teams. If it were a matter of following five easy steps, then everyone would do it! But for some, these steps come naturally.
 
Step 1:  Be A Part of Your Industry Community
People who are active and passionate about what they do tend to meet and attract the company of others like them. They have an insatiable appetite for consuming the thought leadership. They publish, interact and participate. They involve others from the industry in what they’re doing, bring them in to consult, meet the team, brainstorm, seek mentorships, offer to mentor and in the course of doing so, naturally surround themselves with amazing talent.
 
Step 2:  Be Selective in Your Hiring
Candidates who are most qualified on paper aren’t always in reality. Many people fail upwards. Get to know your candidates and let your trusted team members do the same. Look for entrepreneur qualities that are well balanced with strong teamwork and leadership. Look for people who are passionate but can debate reasonably, respectfully and keep their egos in check. Look for people who want to listen and learn. Trust your gut, but put the work in first to vet them out. It will save you hassles down the road and show your team that you take seriously whom you choose to work alongside them and you.
 
Step 3:  Never Stop Growing and Developing Team Members
Make sure that you place equal passion into developing your team members. This starts on day one. Know what they really want to do, what their passion is. Discover talents they may not showcase and continually seek opportunities for them to learn and prove themselves. Let them experience and try things. Encourage and facilitate the sharing of ideas and information and the publishing of thought leadership. Provide mentorships. Provide guidance on paths to success and, should they fail, help them discover opportunities for improvement.
 
Step 4:  Be Decisive and Make Hard Decisions
Not every hire works out. If you sense that someone is not a fit make the tough decision and let them go. Do so correctly and respectfully, but do so swiftly. Your team will appreciate it. If your team feels that you’re letting the weak link hang around for too long, then they’ll start to feel undervalued, resentful, and potentially apathetic. Lastly, don’t ever, EVER, hold onto someone who’s bad for the team but great for business. Read Robert Sutton’s book, “The No Asshole Rule.” Here’s why he wrote it:  http://blogs.hbr.org/2007/03/why-i-wrote-the-no-asshole-rule/. And here’s why Forbes agrees that you should read it:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/chunkamui/2012/02/15/forget-the-seven-habits-but-remember-the-no-asshole-rule/.
 
Step 5:  Be the Best Manager They’ve Ever Had
It’s not a competition, but a goal and as such, it guides how you focus your efforts on your team members. While this is similar to Step 3, the distinction here is that it’s a mindset more so than just facilitating growth and development. Set clear expectations and hold your team accountable. Be hard on problems, soft on people. Be respectful, available, honest, transparent and fair. Treat them as you’d want them to treat your clients. Listen and solicit ideas. Be genuine and sincere. Be appropriately patient and optimistic. Be mindful not to distract your team with tough realities that they may not need to know and shield them from details that don’t provide value. And again, because it warrants repeating—be fair.
You’ll notice that nowhere in this article do I discuss pay, benefits, incentives, etc. Those are details which, when approached with these five steps in mind, will sort themselves out. Potential employees will naturally seek top compensation, but the people who truly comprise a dream team don’t place compensation as a top priority other than being able to take care of themselves and their dependents. The people you want will care more about the company, the team, the culture and the opportunities. If your top candidate seems to focus the most on compensation, remember Step 2!

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