This guest blog was written by Martin Rodriguez, CEO of SegurosObligatorios.
For several years, I have been asking a question that many new entrepreneurs are also considering: What components are needed to gather the ideal startup team? Based on my own startup experience and stories from other founders, I’ll share the three key elements I see in many prospering projects.
1. Find a Programmer
Accountants, doctors and architects trying to create online tech startups can face major headaches — and questionable results — because it’s much easier to be a root programmer and develop an application than the other way around.
Consider Google and Microsoft, which have founders who are programmers and software developers. They took the first steps, with their own hands, in order to achieve a long-term vision. Now think of the new technology companies based on software-as-a-service (SaaS). Most of them were developed by programmers-turned-CEOs, from 37Signals, an administrative and collaboration applications for employees, to Tradeshift, an accounting and billing program.
Great technology businesses often start with great programmers. You might have the idea and passion to run a startup, but an ideal startup team means inviting talented developers. And I’m not talking about a salaried programmer who works for nothing but the paycheck. Find and convince the best programmer you know to become part of the project. The only effective way to do this is by turning this programmer into a startup owner, with equal responsibility and loyalty to the business.
2. Add A Problem-Solver
Most startups face unpredictable and peculiar problems, from brand intimations to patent issues to trouble with employees, competitors, customers and suppliers. Each of these situations needs to be treated in time and form and — above all — solved.
A successful startup needs the ability to constantly solve problems — the role I’ve been playing at elMejorTrato.com. Since my friend and partner Hernan is a better programmer, it’s my responsibility to take care of everything else.
Once a great programmer is in place to develop excellent software, a second needs to come in with the innate and tireless ability to solve even the most unexpected problems.
Look for someone with an insurmountable level of confidence, plus flexibility and willingness to solve any kind of problem. I used to be a Boy Scout, and take “Always ready!” to heart. That willingness to handle any problem at a moment’s notice is a quality to look for when adding a future partner to the startup team.
3. Hire Outside Help
An ideal startup team also needs external help. At our company, for example, we lost time and money by hiring a full-time accountant to work exclusively for us. While our accountant did bring us all the enterprise numbers we needed, it was a mistake because a startup doesn’t need a full time accountant, lawyer or designer. A startup will need those roles filled, of course, but as part-time positions. Startups are enterprises, not full-fledged companies.
Start paying attention to the skills of your friends, family and acquaintances, and look for trustworthy people to take on these roles. Find lawyers and accountants who do their jobs well so you can stay focused not on financial statements or filing papers with the courts but on the startup itself. It’s not an easy job, but it pays to start looking. Consider trust and then work experience. Don’t make the mistake of hiring a lawyer or a financial accountant without much experience just to save a few bucks; you’ll pay more in the long run if they do things incorrectly. An experienced professional can be more expensive, but also carries value: Being surrounded by first-rate consultants and advisers is always an investment. It’s the only way to continue to grow.
Engineer Martin Rodriguez is CEO of SegurosObligatorios, an online startup in Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Chile and Colombia.
