Having a Good Team — Better Than Having a Great Plan
Founders of famous technology companies share what happened in the early days when they were just a couple of friends with a crazy idea
We’ve all had that discussion with a group of friends where we kicked around ways to solve a problem. How many times have you said, “This is such a great idea; we should really do it!” Or, “This will be a goldmine!”
Some of these brainstorms can grow into a Google, Apple, or an Uber. The reality is most business concepts will fail within the first year, which is the most critical time of launching a startup. But what really happens in the early phases of these organizations will surprise anyone on the outside. For the most part, the only ones who’ve really been there to tell these stories are the founders.
Jessica Livingston, author of the book, Founders at Work, gathers unique interviews from some of these founders of great startup enterprises such as PayPal, TiVo, Yahoo, and TripAdvisor. The book contains a wealth of valuable information — even if you’re somebody with no intention of launching a startup business. The stories provide a good sampling of some of the smartest business minds. There’s much to learn from their mistakes as from their accomplishments.
Such lessons as, starting with a great idea is good, but having a talented team around you is critical. And how too much investor money can actually hurt a startup initiative. First and foremost — creating something of real value to others requires listening to your customers.
When Launching an Enterprise, a Good Team Is More Important Than a Good Idea
In 1993 Joe Kraus, the co-founder of the early web search tool Excite, teamed up with five of his friends from Stanford University. They demonstrated that having a good team proved more important than having a good plan. Kraus and his friends weren’t even sure what their business would be, only that they were all passionate and intelligent individuals. All they needed was a goal.
It came together at a taco stand, where Kraus and his friends began brainstorming a solution to search all of the new information…
