I have a pet hate for generalizations like this - especially when they end up having such a profound influence over important issues like financing and angel investment.
I think every startup needs to be considered on its merits and must be based on what you or the other founders bring to the party and what is missing. For me, I pretty much covered the three bases mentioned myself, but my weakness has always been details and administration. I ended up with a co-founder who complemented that weakness and considering we were cash-flow positive from day one, that was a good fit for us, because I was able to hire in the areas I was not so strong as we grew. I've since parted ways with my co-founder, but having someone with a skillset that complemented mine got me through those difficult early years when the last thing I wanted to be worried about was who to pay, and who needed to be paid, etc. I see five skills as essential in any organisation: - Strategy, Development, UI, Sales/Marketing, Finance/Admin. You need all five of these talents in your company to make it. Who you need to partner you, depends on what you can't bring to the party and how important each of those five are to your particular business model. I think the traditional "lean startup model" is based on companies that are going to take years to generate revenue and profits, and so a heavy emphasis on technical talent is needed to get through those times. Personally, I'd only ever start a company where I can see the potential to start generating revenue quickly and if you have that ability to hire as you grow, it does make a big difference. On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 2:27 PM, Andrew Birt <and...@startupmarketing.com.au>wrote: > Been thinking recently about a new side project for 2011 and read a > great article on Quora about the ideal startup team. A developer, a > designer and a distributor (See: > > http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-perfect-startup-team?q=perfect+startup+team > ) > > So I thought it'd be good to shout out, and see if anyone agree's/ > disagree's with this model? > And, if anyone's interested to form a team based on this criteria? > > At this stage, I've got no specific product in mind; more interested > in forming the team then screening a few opportunities against some > criteria we can come up with. > > Overview of what I do here: www.startupmarketing.com.au so i'd see > myself playing the distributor role. > If you're interested drop me a line: and...@startupmarketing.com.au > > Cheers, > > Andrew > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach > Australia mailing list. > > Guidelines on discussion: > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den > > No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. > > To post to this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com<silicon-beach-australia%2bunsubscr...@googlegroups.com> > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en > -- Phil Sim Chief Executive Officer, MediaConnect Australia Pty Ltd www.mediaconnect.com.au phi...@mediaconnect.com.au Ph: +61 2 9894 6277 Fax: +61 2 8246 6383 Mobile: 0413889940 -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Guidelines on discussion: http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den No lurkers! It is expected that you introduce yourself. To post to this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to silicon-beach-australia+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia?hl=en?hl=en
