When it comes to evaluating a start-up team, venture capital investors often rely on intuition and gut feel. However, data shows that 60% of new ventures fail due to problems with the team. While investors typically focus on the financial side of the business, evaluating the team is just as critical to the success of a startup.

Start-up Roles and Responsibilities

Successful start-ups require a team with a diverse set of skills and responsibilities. Here are some common roles and responsibilities of a start-up team:

• Engineer: They have the ability, skill, and drive to break down concepts, understand technicalities, and identify product opportunities.
• Product Person: They can build unique and impressive products around any concept, even recommend product fixes/changes.
• Sales Person: They can find beautiful ways to sell a product, have good people skills, and are capable of convincing people.
• Business Development People: They are capable of finding links and networks around a concept and can build a network around a product or concept.
• Marketing Person: They are more technical salespeople, identifying unique sales channels and opportunities.
• Customer Service/Account Management Person: They have good social skills and can relate well with clients to identify and understand their needs and concerns.
• Office Managers: They have amazing social skills, can inspire people, identify and relate with staff, and are good human resource managers.

Experience and Soft Skills

Experience is often seen as a crucial factor for start-up success, but it is not enough to make a team thrive. A recent study of 95 new start-up teams in the Netherlands found that shared entrepreneurial passion and shared strategic vision are required for superior team performance, as rated by external venture capital investors.

Teams with high levels of previous experience but average to low levels of passion and collective vision demonstrated weak team performance when it came to innovation in products and services, customer satisfaction, cost control, and expected sales growth. In contrast, teams with average levels of previous experience but high levels of passion and collective vision demonstrated significantly stronger performance. Experience is beneficial, but when the team spirit is right as well, performance is exceptional.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the importance of a good team to a start-up cannot be overemphasized. The team is responsible for setting goals, handling daily activities, and adhering to the overall guidelines and vision of the start-up. Investors should not overlook the importance of evaluating the team’s soft skills, including shared passion and vision, in addition to experience, when considering investing in a start-up. By building a team with diverse skills and a shared vision, start-ups can increase their chances of success.