After the Funding: Build a Team that is Smart and Gets Things Done
Story byMark Schiefelbein
Mark is founder of agilician, an Amsterdam-based consultancy that unlocks startup growth. He has advised numerous startups on questions invo(show all)Mark is founder ofagilician, an Amsterdam-based consultancy that unlocks startup growth. He has advised numerous startups on questions involving strategy, positioning, roadmap, process and team. He previously held management positions at startups across Europe including Backbase and Tridion.
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Build a Team that is Smart and Gets Things Done
The early team is built up of founders and a close circle of trusted employees that have often worked together previously and that become close friends. The team has natural chemistry and complementing skills. You need few management skills and early employees wear many hats, filling in as office manager or accountant when needed.
To expand the business, the team needs to be expanded. Expansion means bringing in seniority as well as volume. The team of founders and early employees needs to determine which management roles can be assumed by the current team and which need to be brought in from the outside. And the founders need to create a recruitment process that consistently lands the startup additional talent.
The founders must realize that it is time to bring in the professionals when they are spending more time learning than leading and the staff starts losing confidence. At the same time, they must avoid bringing in too much senior staff with high salaries and low hunger for success. As for expanding the team, the key lies in hiring people that are smart and that get things done. Read and apply Joel Spolky’s “Guerrilla Guide to Interviewing” and never hire someone if there are any doubts or you are having a hard time make a “hire or no hire” decision.
After the Funding
In the first post of the series I explained thatdecision-making needs to be based on long-term strategy. Owners need to spend time defining a clear and concise strategy and enable others to make day-to-day decisions based on their roles in the company.
Then I cautioned about therisks of premature expansion of the sales force. Owners must set-up a repeatable sales process first and then expand the sales force.
Then followed a post about the importance of aproduct roadmap to create alignmentbetween teams, to help business define its target market and to guide technology in setting priorities and allocating resources.
And last week I made the case for yourproduct heartbeat– a continual rapid-fire release plan that provides customers with new features at short, predictable intervals and gives focus to the development team.
Interesting Reads
Here are some interesting articles and posts on hiring:
