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Ask HN: How Do You Build A Startup Team?

4 points by ytadesse ↗ HN
How did you/do you build a startup team? I left my job at at a Fortune 10 company in October to start my own company but 6 month later it's still "just me". I have not actively gone looking for people to join me because the project is in stealth mode - thus I have zero funds to acquire talent. I'm considering approaching VCs even though the only real need I have for their $$$ would be for building a team. Is this the right approach?

4 comments

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petervandijck
I just launched an app to make that just a little easier: http://gethirely.com :)

Mostly, it tends to be people you've worked with before. Approaching VC's to build a team is fine, although they will (understandably) question your ability to build a team since you haven't gotten anyone on board yet. Building a team is part of building a startup, and it's not easy. Good luck!

ytadesse
Thanks Peter. The most telling part of your statement was that VCs would question my ability to build a team. I take blame but it has more to do with the fact that I've placed building a team behind developing the product. As a result, the product is almost ready for Beta release but I'm left to tackle all the issues alone. As soon as it's Beta ready, I plan on reaching out to whomever I can.

Furthermore, there are two people that I rely on for advisory purposes. They provide me with insight and advice when needed but don't work with me 24/7 since they have their own lives/careers. I hesitate to call them part of my "team". I wonder if others would consider that as part of their company's employees.

triviatise
I think most people join with people they already know and trust. A business partner is just like a spouse except that there are way more challenges to a startup than a marriage.

You can avoid paying big $ by giving equity and selling the dream. Some of the initial founders dont have to quit their day jobs. If you do give equity make sure you can take it back if they arent able to really commit. read founders at work to get a bunch of examples of how people formed teams from some of the biggest name tech startups.

ytadesse
Equity seems like the right approach for me. Either way (VC or no VC), it looks like I'll have to fork away the dream.

On the other hand, I do want to read this book. I read some reviews for it just now and got the gist. Thanks for the note.