What Makes a Strong ICE Team?

There tend to be three types of people when creating their first startup teams: at one extreme are those that think they can and should do everything and, at the other, those that are fearful that they have so little experience that they shouldn't even bother to start.  Of the two, I find it easier to convince the latter to build a team than the former, so if you're the nervous sort, take heart.  And if you're the know-it-all type, now is a really good time to realize that your chances of being funded as an individual are even smaller than your chances of being funded as part of a team if you retain that "I know more than you do" attitude!

The third type is the best: the one who acknowledges his or her capabilities and shortcomings and then seeks to balance them by building the right team.  Let me encourage you to develop this perspective if you don't have it already!  An entrepreneur without self-confidence is going to have a very tough time surviving the roller coaster and frequent ego-bruisers associated with raising money.  If you have an idea you believe in, recognize that passion, determination and a good plan can make even the most inexperienced entrepreneur a success.

One with too much self-confidence is likely to turn off investors and often the very teammates you need the most.  (For those of you who don't believe this, ask any venture capitalist whether he would invest in someone who is convinced that he knows how best to manage all parts of his company, from finance to technology). 

If the following is too touchy-feely for you, skip to the end of this entry to get a more nuts-and-bolts approach to thinking about your team.

Let's assume you're the third type: you know what you bring to the table and are honest about your weaknesses.  Be careful to think about your characteristics in many dimensions: capability in a specific area (engineering, finance, sales, etc.), commitment and motivation (I'm doing this because I think it would be fun vs. I want to make this work no matter what obstacles lie in my path vs. I am in this to get rich), work habits (deadline driven, systematic, opportunistic, etc.), and personality (type A workaholic, prefer a balanced lifestyle, etc.). 

Once you've sorted out what you need, keep in mind that diversity is a real advantage.  While everyone needs to be committed to the goals of the team, having a team full of people who think and act like you do is not likely to lead to the robust results you want (for example: the Bush team is renowned (and not in a good way) for its lack of diversity of opinion in spite of its ethnic and gender diversity).  The balancing act is that a team that is too diverse in some dimensions, especially commitment and motivation, may implode under the pressure of meeting deadlines.

Here are the most criteria that I value most highly in selecting teammates: passion for the objective, smarter than I am (some might say that I'm setting the bar too low ;-), high level of integrity and strong communication skills.  For my money, these are more important than a particular skill set or experience level.  My favorite example of this, of course, is the ICE Competition itself, which was started by a handful of people who had never done anything of the kind before and yet were able to launch it in November 2004 and bring the first one to a successful conclusion in April 2005.

Nonetheless, there's nothing like having someone who meets those criteria who is also very good at something you're not.  If you're a technical person and need business expertise on your team or a business school student who needs someone with a great idea, you are like the majority of people who enter the ICE Competition.  Meeting someone with such a different skill set can be challenging, especially if you are not on a university campus.  Getting comfortable with talking with someone who is so different in background can also be tough.  More on this next time.

My recommendation is to talk to as many people with the background you need as you can.  While having someone smart and dedicated on your team who wants to learn how to do something you need is a good way to go, it also means paying (one way or another) for him to learn it, including making mistakes and losing time.  If you can find the right person with the skill set you need, you're way ahead of the game - so get out there and interview until you find someone with your missing skill set who also has the right attitude and level of commitment to be a great teammate.  It's hard to spend the time when all you want to do is develop the technology or the marketing strategy or whatever, but it is time very (very) well spent.

Next, make sure you have someone on your team who is detail-oriented and someone who is visionary.  Other extremes, such as procrastinators vs. rigid schedule-followers, are less important to have - in fact, they're more likely to cause problems so make sure you're not confusing detail-orientation with rigidity.  And, if you're at one extreme (say, deadline-driven like I am) and you bring in someone who is really focused on beating deadlines, try to be sensitive to the way he works, too.  It'll save a lot of headaches if you try to add some deadlines to your schedule and he is willing to allow flexibility on less-critical milestones.

OK, that's enough about the personality side of things.  Here is who you need on your team:

• Team Visionary: The one with the idea or the most passion for achieving the team objectives - and the ability to communicate it to the rest of the team.  This is important in terms of guidance all the way through the process but especially when the inevitable bumps in the road come up.
• Team Leader: The one who sets the strategy and worries about implementation.  Can be the Visionary though it's often better that they are different people.
• Public Face of the Company: The one who pitches the company, usually the Team Leader (i.e., the CEO) but can be the Visionary (e.g., the CTO).  In general, investors want to see the CEO give the pitch, so bear that in mind.
• Technical Staff: The team member(s) who design, test, redesign and prove the concept, whether it is cutting edge technology, a new product or a service.  This should include at least one person who is focused on producing something that a customer would buy, not 'just' something that is beyond cool.
• Marketing Staff: The team member(s) who do the research to answer two critical questions: how big is the market and how important is the problem your team will be able to solve?  There are lots of sub-questions here, from how much money is the customer willing to pay to who are the customers - never underestimate either the importance or difficulty of getting these answers!

There are others you can add: people who are good at crunching numbers, those who are good at graphics and/or writing, gofers who are just excited about being part of the effort.  But this is a startup team and you can't afford the resources to support a lot of people - most of you will need to be able and willing to do most of the above tasks.

The main thing you want to avoid is bringing in people who are less committed than you are and those who do not deliver.  If someone turns out to be lacking in either of these critical areas, it's in everyone's best interests that they find another position that suits him better.  Work at it first - it takes time and energy to find someone new and train him - so make sure you have all agreed on what the deliverables are, what kind of effort is expected over what timeframe, and so on.  Write it down!  And then check in to make sure that everyone is living up to their and your expectations.

Sound like a lot of work?  You bet!  But I promise you that it will save you so much time in the future that you'll be writing me thank you notes for years to come if you follow this advice!

Good luck and don't forget to come to the ICE Kick Off on December 11th!