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Is it worth co-founding a startup with great funding but a poor team?

1 points by aichcon ↗ HN
I am lucky to have a network of friends that have excellent connections for funding through family and work. Recently they have approached me to co-found a startup catering primarily to legal advisory firms.

They are certainly friends, but are not the most disciplined or experienced business people. They have a primarily legal background, so I don't think they've worked on a software development project before. And their attitude is 'funding first, business plan after,' which immediately sets off a red flag in my mind. Basically, I question their ability to found and grow a company successfully.

They have access to a few hundred thousand dollars (possibly more down the road) in funding and the support of some 'heavy hitting' business people, including the CMO of one of the major airline ticketing sites on the web. (I am going to leave out the name of the company for their own privacy).

My question is: is it worth jumping on to this project for the networking opportunities, the increased pay, and the obvious freedoms from a 9-5, even though I do not necessarily have faith in the idea or people? Who you know is a lot more valuable than what you know, especially as you get higher up in business, and I would love to be able to incorporate the 'heavy hitters' into my network for future advice or funding for a personal project. At the same time, I am horrified of dealing with a group of people who don't know what they're doing for six months, only to realize that the entire project has been a naive waste of time.

As a note, I am pretty happy with my 9-5 job right now ... it is rewarding and I am paid well (although I would ask for much more to join the startup), but there is no chance of me becoming a 'heavy hitter' there in the next three years or so.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

10 comments

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noodle
first and foremost, if you don't feel comfortable undertaking a project like this, for all of the reasons you listed, then don't. if you're going to do this, you need to jump in head first. asking if your situation is "worth" it is a value decision that would have a different answer for each individual person. if its not a good fit for you, then don't do it.

having said that, if you do go for it, make sure to set them straight. you might not need an official business plan, but you do need to at least have a road to profitability written somewhere on a napkin before you get started. it needs to be shown that it can be done. make sure the startup follows a good path and make sure that your investors/partners understand what needs to be done. introduce stability so you can maintain a stable paycheck.

and i think its been said elsewhere on YC, so i'm probably stealing the idea, but being a startup founder doesn't mean that you can expertly produce the startup from start to finish by yourself. it means that you have the knowledge and leadership required to make sure that the task gets completed. if you guys need better coders, hire some freelancers or new employees.

aichcon
Thanks for the feedback ... the idea that these folks haven't thought things through as much as I would in their situation is scary but I guess not a deal-breaker as long as they can lead.
noodle
no problem.

this sounds like a heavily technical project. before jumping in to it, you should assert majority control on the direction of the project. not necessarily ownership or anything, but would you want a team of lawyers with no piloting experience flying a plane? no, the pilot should be at the wheel, making the directional decisions.

such is this project. a developer should be in the lead of building an application. you're the developer, so make sure that they understand that while you'll seriously consider everything everyone says and bow to others in their areas of expertise, the final decisions lie with you because at the end of the day, you're building an application.

that'll probably make you more comfortable :)

aichcon
Exactly. My biggest fear is that they will try to assert control where they do not have expertise. If they gave me the control I need to build the software correctly -- instead of just saying I have control but then making unreasonable demands later -- I would feel good about it.
noodle
then make that clear to them, perhaps with a good employment agreement contract.
tej
You said that you do not necessarily have faith in the idea or people. That says it all. There is no commitment from your end and it seems that you really don't care. So, don't just jump in for the heck of it, or just for the sake of leaving a 9-5 job. If the founder himself is not committed enough, this startup would go nowhere, no matter how much funding you get...
aichcon
Perhaps I was being a bit dramatic in that I have no faith in the idea or people -- it is more that the idea is so ambiguous that I am weary of trusting it.

If the idea eventually resolves to a more solid plan, I would certainly be committed to it. Thanks for the feedback.

utnick
wait so you get to leave the 9-5, make your own rules, and get paid more?

how is this not a win-win.

best case: you take control and make this startup work

worst case: you fail and go back to your old job, richer

aichcon
It's not a clear cut win-win to me because, even though I may be richer, I may hate working with these people and my life may be miserable for that period of time. And the 'richer' argument is only in the short term -- what is one year of high salary followed by nothing compared to steady gains in pretty good salary over time?
edw519
If this project was a woman, would you marry her? I didn't think so.

If the answer was yes, you never would have asked the question in the first place. You'd already be working.