What You Need for the Perfect Startup Team. There is no universal plan for assembling the perfect team for launching a startup. Conventional entrepreneurial wisdom dictates that all you need for your company’s starting lineup are a designer, a hacker, and a business person, or anyone who calls themselves a ninja at something. And while there is nothing wrong with having these types of people help you get your company off the ground, putting together a winning combination should not be taken lightly. After all, who you employ early on has a considerable influence on your startup’s prospects. In this syndicated blog post, lean startup coach and advisor Tristan Kromer shares his insights on what comprises the complete startup team and what startups should look for in team members.
Tristan is also a Mentor for the Istanbul Founder Institute, which is currently accepting applications. The article, “The Complete Team”, originally appeared on Grasshopperherder and has been republished below with permission. The Balanced Team No Constant No. How to Start a Tech Company: 21 Crucial Steps. It’s easy to get caught up in the glamour of launching a successful startup with the possibility of it becoming the next Google or Facebook. However, because of the proliferation of overnight success stories, too many founders dive into entrepreneurship without a plan, limiting their chances of fortune and glory. That is why we here at the Founder Institute have provided an in-depth guide to the tips and tricks of launching a startup, complete with expert advice and useful tips for every stage of your company.
Before You Launch Your Startup... ...You should consider your reasons for launching a company in the first place. And who better to give you crash course in the reality of becoming an entrepreneur than Evernote CEO Phil Libin? Are you still convinced that entrepreneurship is a quick and easy way to become rich? Name Your Company and Get Your Domain 1. GoogleTwitterFacebookFoursquareDropBox 2. Mint.com is quality, it’s a place where money is made, it’s short and spelled unambiguously. Before You Create Your Product, Create Your Value Proposition: A Formula For Success. Your value proposition matters. It is the face of your product and how customers perceive your company. But most founders decide to create their value proposition after they create their product. Why is that? A few weeks ago, I wrote a post, "How to have your customers build your product for you," that covered a variety of topics, including the importance of your value proposition.
In the short guide, the first step was to create your value proposition before you create your product. This post is a deeper dive into the subject of value propositions and how you can create one that won't land your company in the startup graveyard. In order to create a successful value proposition for your company you will need to identify three elements: What you want, what your customer wants, and what will generate reveneue. What You Want What Motivates You? What most founders don’t realize is the importance of creating a company that agrees with their personal mission. Why? What Your Customer Wants. How to Have Your Customer Build Your Product for You. Do you know why most startup projects fail? Some attribute it to a lack of funding. Others might say that they didn’t have enough time to build their product or they didn't learn how to tell a great brand story.
But in the midst of all of those excuses, the real element that is lacking is customers. If you had customers knocking on your door to give you money for your product, all other problems would be solved. It all boils down to customers. Are you a blind founder? Everyday, countless founders make the mistake of building their product blindly. Don't be a blind founder. How can you get started? Follow this guide until you have something that your customers love. Determine your Product / Value proposition You have a business idea. The first step into having your customers build your product for you is to create a simple value proposition for the direction that you want your business to go. Examples of possible top level value propositions for the Founder Institute would be: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
How to Design Addictive Experiences to Keep Users Coming Back for More. What is Design? Why is it important? Many people, especially founders, will focus more on the idea than the design of their product, but this misguided bias is founded in not truly understanding what design is. Copy this code, replace all the bolded with your links. The width and height of the imagery is up to you. In Steve Jobs' wise words: "Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. " Your design is how your product or idea interacts with the customer – and because of this, it’s extraordinarily important. With good design you can boost user engagement and keep users coming back for more. There are many elements that go into an amazing design, and we will outline them below. Move Away From Thinking like a Technologist - Develop Sympathy for Your User When crafting the user experience around the wants and needs of your user, Weekly has some crucial advice for founders: Ask yourself, What is the majority use case?
Now what? First, what is a hook? Triggers 1.