In the early days of a startup, there aren't any specific roles like CEO or VP of Sales. Instead, there are just a lot of jobs and tasks that need to be done. Everyone on the team has to wear many hats and take on a lot of responsibilities.

It's exciting to think of one person changing an entire industry on their own. But in reality, solo founders face many problems, such as:

·        The company depends too much on one person.

·        People might wonder why no one else believes in their mission enough to join.

·        There aren't enough hours in the day for one person to do everything needed for success, even if they have all the necessary skills (which is unlikely).

·        They need to hire outside help for skills they lack, which is expensive and shortens the company's budget, leading to a loss of control and possibly intellectual property.

Here are some tips for Solo founders starting on their journey:

What is the right size of your team?

Keeping the usual disclaimers of Correlation & Causation aside, research from First Round and Ali Temaseb (DCVC) makes a strong case for having 2 or 3 co-founders as the ideal scenario. This means two or three founders who can own functions of the business mapping to their areas of expertise. However, it is important to note that 20% of all billion-dollar startups have had a solo founder.

When you're short on time and trying to run your business with limited resources, it's crucial to focus on what you do best. Having a team with diverse strengths and weaknesses is beneficial because you need people who can complement your skills.

Qualities of exceptional co-founding teams

The main reason startups fail early is co-founder conflicts. Many people choose their co-founder with less care than they put into hiring employees. Your relationship with your co-founder needs to last five to ten years, so choose wisely. But where do you begin?

A great co-founding team is one with complementary skills and different strengths. We believe success comes from a team’s diverse personalities and perspectives, which enhances creativity, decision-making, and business results.

There are three critical areas where you ought to align:

• Goals: Make sure you share the same long-term goals for the company.
• Values:  When difficulties arise, as they will, your shared values are what will keep you grounded and moving in the same direction.
• Chemistry:  This is a professional and close relationship where you are co-creating a vision. It's important to enjoy spending time with your team.

Knowing who you are and what you need?

You need to understand your own strengths and weaknesses. This will help you on your journey of building a team that complements your skill sets and personality. Some simple exercises you can do to start this process include:

‍About you

• Know who you are and what you want to achieve.
• Know your personal motivations, needs, and vision.  
• Prepare for strategic compromise. Identify areas for compromise to set up the business for success. 

‍Skills and value matching

• Write down a clear description of your ideal co-founder.
• Match based on your personality, vision, and values (consider hard skills too).

‍Network

• You will have greater success in connecting with suitable co-founder/s if you are proactive.

Co-Founder archetypes:

No matter how disruptive a trend or product that’s 10x better, without a strong team it’s going to be difficult to build a great company. Only, what’s the ideal founding team? Enter the hustler, hacker, and hipster.

Hustler – The consummate salesperson who’s always pitching a new opportunity. Think about that guy or gal who’s selling candy at a markup in elementary school because there was demand and they couldn’t help but fill it.

Hacker – The builder that loves creating new products, for fun and for profit. This person is constantly tinkering and whips up a new prototype in 24 hours with ease.

Hipster – The user experience expert who wants to delight the customer through every product and company interaction. Every detail has to be authentic and true to the brand.

Hiring your MFT:

Prior to raising a pre-seed or seed round, founders should ensure their MFT is a competitive advantage. We suggest that all founders ask the following three simple questions to determine the completeness of their team prior to raising:

1. Is someone on the team a deep subject matter expert with the market or product you’re building?

2. Has someone on the team built a successful product from zero?

3. Do you have the right mix of skills across the team required to ship a quality product quickly?

If the answer to any of the questions above is no, what steps need to be taken to fill in any gaps to achieve MFT?

Identifying your team's strengths and weaknesses is essential to empowering your team to make decisions.

How do you find co-founders?

Now you know what you should be looking for but, where do you actually find these co-founders? We recommend looking outside your immediate circle when looking to build a strong co-founding team. In our experience, a consistent key marker of building a successful co-founder team is diversity. And the reality is, you probably surround yourself with people a lot like you. 

Think about places and events that attract entrepreneurial and curious people. One of the most effective ways to find a co-founder is to join an Antler residency, but in most major cities across the world, there is an abundance of networking events, meetups, and hackathons that can help you begin the process. There are also numerous online platforms, forums, and groups that can help your search.

‍How do I know if this is the right fit?

When considering someone to work with, ask yourself, "Does this person energize me or drain me?" Can you see yourself enjoying their company almost every day for the next five years or more? Do they make you feel motivated and energized, or sluggish and unenthusiastic? The chemistry between you is crucial.

Many teams spend weeks or even months getting to know each other. However, you can streamline this process by discussing the tough questions early on. Will we work weekends for the first year? Will we take salaries? How will we hire and pay employees? Will you spend time with your kids or partner? What motivates you to build a company? Discuss your personal values and your long-term vision for the company. The sooner you address these questions, the better it will be for your company's future.

Besides that, if everything looks perfect in theory, but you are still in doubt, listen to your gut feeling. It is often the best indicator.

Some reading material on this topic: 

https://www.antler.co/blog/how-to-build-a-strong-co-founding-team

https://www.antler.co/blog/how-to-find-a-cofounder-and-founder-chemistry

https://medium.com/@afkehaya/how-to-form-a-startup-team-692069c777b1

https://www.malpaniventures.com/blog-post/hiring-what-works-for-us

https://www.malpaniventures.com/blog-post/10-more-interview-questions-to-build-your-founding-team

https://www.malpaniventures.com/blog-post/top-10-interview-questions-to-build-your-founding-team

 We would love to understand your perspective!