By Eddie Lou, co-founder of OneGoal and CodaPet, and an active angel investor.
A great team can make all the difference in the success or failure of your startup. Top investors value the quality of a startup team as one of the key variables when evaluating an investment in a promising startup. I’ve been blessed to have had the privilege of creating great teams or have had a courtside seat—as a board director or CEO advisor—to a founder who created an incredible team. And I’ve been part of a dozen startups that have created multiple billions in shareholder value.
Based on my experience, here are 10 tips for how to create a startup dream team:
1. Define Your Company Culture
A strong company culture helps attract and retain top talent, fosters a sense of unity and purpose among team members, and drives the success of the business. As a board director at Alert Logic, which was acquired twice during my board tenure, I experienced three CEO leadership changes. The company’s foundation had a strong company culture which meant a positive and supportive work environment. Despite the senior leadership changes, the team was passionate about their work and the company continued to achieve its objectives.
2. Hire For Attitude And Intellect
While technical skills are important, it is more important to hire individuals who have the right attitude and intellectual talent. Attitude encompasses a person’s personality, values, work ethic and emotional intelligence. Meanwhile, functional skills can be taught and learned through training and experience.
3. Look For Diversity
It is essential to have a team with diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives to bring different ideas and approaches to the table. A diverse team can provide a wider range of solutions to problems and can help avoid groupthink, which can limit creativity and innovation.
4. Use Social Media
Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook can help you connect with potential candidates. At my previous startup, Shiftgig, I utilized LinkedIn to proactively reach out to potential executives at other high-profile startups to network and learn about their experiences but also to indirectly recruit.
5. Know Your Customers
At my current startup, CodaPet, we make a point to know our customers. We don’t sit in an ivory tower. Instead, our executives talk to our customers every week. We do this because we believe startups that prioritize customer research and feedback are more likely to create products or services that meet the needs of their customers, which can lead to increased customer satisfaction and loyalty.
6. Offer Competitive Salaries And Benefits
With a low unemployment rate, talented individuals are in high demand and have many options when it comes to choosing their employer. By offering competitive compensation packages, startups can attract and retain top talent. I recommend using third-party compensation benchmarks. This can help you identify and reward executives accordingly.
7. Provide Opportunities For Growth
Offering opportunities for growth and development can help attract and retain top talent, improve employee morale and increase productivity. Promoting from within the organization can also help ensure that your company has a strong pipeline of talent to draw from.
8. Encourage Collaboration
Collaboration promotes teamwork and helps create a positive work environment where everyone feels valued and supported. When team members collaborate, they can share their ideas, skills and knowledge, which typically leads to more innovative solutions, better decision-making and an increase in trust.
9. Focus On Results, Not Hours Worked
It is crucial for a startup dream team to focus on results rather than hours worked. By focusing on results, team members are encouraged to be more productive and efficient in their work, which can lead to better outcomes for the startup.
10. Hire Slowly, Fire Quickly
It is important to take the time to carefully select the right individuals for each role, ensuring that they possess the necessary skills and experience and are a good cultural fit. Rushing the hiring process can result in bringing on individuals who are not a good fit for the company culture or who lack the skills needed to perform their job effectively. As an advisor and investor at Factor 75, which was acquired by Hello Fresh in 2020, I saw the CEO focus on hiring executives slowly in part to maintain a path to profitability. If an executive was not meeting expectations, the CEO addressed the issue quickly and decisively.
Creating a startup dream team takes time and effort, but it’s worth it in the end. By following these 10 tips, I feel confident that you can create a dream team of talented individuals who are passionate about your company’s mission and values.
