Lesson Progress:

Module 8 - Your dream team

4. Chapter 8 Wrap-up

Key take-aways

Building your team: you need to understand where you and your co-founders have skills gaps and recruiting to fill those gaps when the time is right. Who you bring into the business is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make, so it’s important that you search a broad pool of talent, have a good interview process and understand the levels of compensation needed.

Time to stop and think: what skills gaps exist within your company? What roles do you need to fill first? What will the people you recruit be doing immediately, in 6 months’ time and in a year’s time?

Beyond employees, there are lot of other people who will be involved in your startup success, including mentors, advisors, board members and non-executive directors. Look for people who can overcome skills gaps and have relevant experience as well as connections in your industry.

Time to stop and think: who are all the people involved in your startup success and what roles can they play?

Company culture: be intentional about the type of company culture you create as it will have a strong impact on the success of your business.

Time to stop and think: what kind of culture do you want to create? How do you want your days to be and your team to work together? How do the values of your company translate into everyday life, how are they expressed on a day to day basis?

Now, let’s get active!

Assess your strengths and preferences.
Sit down with your co-founders and assess where each of your strengths and preferences lie, then define what skills are needed in your business overall. Identify existing gaps and the skills you should be looking for when hiring.
Go through the values you defined earlier and identify what each of them mean for your business on a day to day basis. How do your values translate to your business in practice?