Having a strong work force is the engine of every startup. Startups are not sure of when is the right time to build a team, who all should be in the team, from where would you get the right people, and how to retain them. Startups always find it very difficult to build a great team because of lack of money, potential employee can’t join because of location, risky nature and social pressures like fear of getting a good marriage proposals, and parents and relatives doesn’t allow joining startups.
Pradeep Pai, Principal Consultant at Godel-Number Consulting feels Better People Syndrome as one of the fallacies of Entrepreneurship. He explains that “The momentum is tilted in favour of bigger teams like When Netherlands and Korea Play soccer, it is expected that Dutch will win every time. Give one extra player to the Korean team. The Korean team will win more times”.
Our this month’s edition of Headstart Startup Saturday Kochi held on 9th November, at Startup Village, Sandhya Shekar, CEO of IIT Madras Research Park, shared the strategies on how to build a great startup team.
The biggest impediment to build a team is ‘I’
Yes none other than we ourselves is to blame. It is usually not thought of but we are the biggest impediment in building of the Team. Why? because of our inability to let go off the equity shares of the startup, or to lose the power of governance. We consider the company as our own baby and don’t wish to let go off it. A child flourishes, when s/he matures and leaves home so likewise we should also let go off the part of equity shares and governance for the startup to flourish.
Getting too familiar:
Too soon we consider ourselves as experts after learning and working on a subject for some time and then we become too ignorant to learn from` others. We hype ourselves as experts and don’t have the humility to ask others or look for opinions from others. But if we can be genuine and humble then you can strike a long-term sustainable relationship with the Team.
Forgetting to have fun:
If we fail to have fun and enjoy ourselves, then we will soon drain ourselves of energy and motivation to continue. If we are not happy then we cannot make others in our team or our customers happy.
Who should be in your Team?
1. Heterogeneous Culture
We should not look for like-minded people or look within our domain, culture or language. We should always look for heterogeneous mix of members so we can always get different perspectives and different skills which would be complementary.
2. People who add Value.
We won’t have the resources to maintain a large quantity of regular full time employees. We should instead look for part-time assistances and virtual Team members. If we can strike the right cord, we can pull in the experts to assist in our work. We should network in the target meetups to find the experts, and then blow them of with your mission and ask them to provide some support or service on a short term basis. We should also be able to leverage on students, who are looking for an opportunity to work, to build a strong CV. Taking anyone who can help on board and not to put them in full-time payroll is a sustainable approach.
Where will you find the members of the Team?
1. Networking.
To find the specifically skilled members, you have to go to specifically targeted meetings, conferences, hackathons etc.
2. Ecosystems.
In the right ecosystems like startup accelerators, incubation zones, IT Parks, Research Centres
How to retain members of the Team?
1. Food.
With good food court, it’s more likely for the people to stay longer. A lot can happen, on dining with the team members. Also a very strong bonding can be made by dining together.
2. Happy Employees.
Find out what makes a full time employee happy and target and service those needs. E.g. For some it may be to work from home once in a month, for some it may be to listen to music while working, for some it may be to wear a comfortable sandals and T-shirt, etc. And for virtual members and part-time assistances, since they are working from their own spaces and time, they are already happy.
3. Shares.
By providing equity shares or the stock options of the company.
“Team is anybody who can help you out. Startups should go and build a virtual Team”
Write-up By Ajoe, Volunteer, Headstart Kochi.
