Starting a business? Team up!

In business school or in entrepreneurship courses, one teaches you how to create a business plan, how to do market research, how to create a perfect presentation to impress any clients or investors, but one rarely talks about the importance of the founding team when starting a new venture. 

1. Why is it so important?

+ So you are not alone: entrepreneurship is a lonely journey. It is you and your business. No one is there to tell you what to do, or not to. Having someone by your side, sharing the same goals and vision, helps to reduce that loneliness feeling. And if you feel down, no need to call your mum, your team will be there to cheer you up!

+ You will avoid the “narcissistic entrepreneur syndrome”: i.e. you know everything and you have all the right answers for your business. By spending days and nights working on your idea, there are great chances that your judgment will be influenced at some point by your personal references and experience. Teaming up with other people, especially if they have different backgrounds, reduces the risks of going to the wall.

--> Follow Netflix CEO Reed Hastings advice and encourage candid feedback.

When I launched Tropic Invest, I wanted to be surrounded by people who challenge me, bring different perspectives and tell me when I was wrong. So I ask friends to join me in the adventure. I might give up some equity, but what I get in return is much more valuable.

+ It matters to investors: I remember clearly one of my entrepreneurship class at Audencia where we had the opportunity to meet business angels to talk about fundraising. One of them told us: “the first 30 minutes of a meeting with aspiring entrepreneurs, I don’t look at the business plan or ask about the business model or the product/service, I focus on the team. Who’s leading, how they react under pressure, do they share the same vision, why did they decide to team up and start a venture together… If I like what I see, the chances for me to invest are much higher, whatever the product or service”. 

Why?

"To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed properly. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions." Steve Jobs

2. What to look out for:

+ Different skills and backgrounds: team up with people with different experiences and strengths, so you can cover more areas of your business. 

At Scéona, I’m in charge of the admin, finance and sales & marketing when Scéona takes care of the operations. I won’t be able to do what she’s doing (i.e. designing and crafting beautiful sustainable jewellery), and vice versa. Without this complementary set of skills, the company won’t exist. 

I like the approach of Jim Collins in his book Good to Great: “Get the right people on the bus, try them out in different seats, then figure out where to go.”

+ Same vision/timeline/objective: it sounds logical, but I think it is underestimated by many founders. In the beginning, we are all very excited to create a new product/service that will change the world. But soon we realise that 90% of startups fail and that the founding team needs to be on the same page when the storm comes.

Imagine you want to launch a venture to sell it after a few years for a sweet profit, and go leave under coconut trees and drink mojitos for the rest of your life. But your business partner’s dream is to create a venture that will generate a stable income for many years to come for him/her and his/her family. It seems that your goals are not aligned and that might lead to some tensions very quickly.

So ask yourself:

• What do you expect from your company? 
• Do you want to grow fast or slowly?
• Where do you see yourself, and the company, in 1/3/5/10 years?
• Are you align with the rest of your team?

+ Chemistry between the founders: some will say it is not necessary, I disagree. You are going to spend most of your time, energy and money for the next few months or even years with a few people. You will face challenges, stress, frustration, doubts, anger (lots of positive emotions as well, no worries ??)… If you don’t like the persons you are working with, well, good luck to you!

In Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh explains that you should only hire people you would happily go out for drinks with. The same applies to your founding team ??

3. Learnings from my experience:

+ Share your frustrations and thoughts early and often: teaming up with someone is like a relationship: you don’t really want to hurt the other person’s feelings or get into a fight. In my experience (both personally and professionally):

• Avoiding the discussion can be much worse ??
• Grabbing your phone to clear a misunderstanding is better / more efficient than an email or WhatsApp messages late at night or early in the morning
• Set regular short meetings or calls to “take the temperature” of the team and clear any issues

+ Understand that people work differently: I like to wake up early and get things done before 9 am then go surfing or exercising. I am much more efficient when I have the freedom of deciding when and where I work. Others will prefer to have a clearer frontier between work and personal life: Monday to Friday, 9 to 6 for instance.

Implementing a flexible work environment is tough, but I truly believe it helps to get the best from the people you work with. Ready to implement the unlimited vacation time?

+ Show gratitude and support: to be honest, I’m not the best at it (but I’m trying!).

Many books and research described the importance of expressing gratitude at work: better relationships, happier people, reduced stress and tensions… 

I’ll end this article with an awesome grad speech from Jeff Weiner, encouraging students to embrace compassion.

Thank you for reading and please share your thoughts with me in the comments :)