" Be passiononate about MBA or CA Then and then only u win "

It's about you!

Finally, I get some time to breathe! My schedule has been really hectic off late with 5 hours sleep being a luxury. Its been about 4 months since I started working on my pet project. Started off just as an idea, progressed as a normal project and now things are looking serious – will it turn into a startup? I have learnt sooooo much during this small stint that I can’t imagine how much I am going to learn if I branch out on my own. Anyways, I just wanted to share my experiences with you all.

So, what exactly does it take to form your own company? There are a zillion factors – market potential,return on investment, etc.. that play a role, but the most important factor is your team! No matter how great your idea is, if you do not have the right set of people to work with, you are heading for a failure! Following are some of my thoughts as to how a team should be.

Are you passionate about the idea?

Being passionate is an understatement! You must live, breathe and think about your startup 24×7. When you see the other guy working for 10 hours a day (very small, mind you!), there should be a feeling that triggers you to expend 11 hours the next day, and there you see a vicious circle coming up. A healthy competitive environment is a must.

Growing a startup is like nurturing your own kid. You really got to love it so much and not fuss about the tantrums/problems it throws about – be it in the wee hours or on a nice Sunday afternoon. Your startup must be your life!

Choose the right people

Choosing the right people to work with is the most important thing to start off! Never include your close relative/friend in a startup because he/she would feel left out otherwise. There are a million other ways to make them feel good. The team is the most important component and there should NOT be any kind of compromises made. It’s better to go with an average programmer whom you are comfortable working with, rather than a stud programmer with whom your rapport is under question

Call a spade a spade. Do not suppress your thoughts and wait for the other person to get back. Never go with the assumption that everything will be fine soon – the truth is, it’s not going to be!

Do NOT fight for your role/stake

A CEO/CTO role initially is actually nothing to be proud of. C’mon you are the CEO of 5 people ? . I am not saying you shouldn’t assign roles to yourselves, infact it’s a must that you do so, but there should not be any kind of disputes while doing so. You assign a CEO to your startup because the angel investor or the venture capitalist needs to have a single point of contact. Of course everyone’s views must be taken into account before a decision is made.The question of who’s the CEO/CTO etc. should just have 1 answer – it must be unanimous. If it isn’t, well press the pause button and think it over again.

I am against dividing the stakes equally amongst the founders initially. Ideally, each one of them should take 5-7% of stake at the start and based on your performance, you get an increase in your stake. Do not ever fight over this issue, it’s going to leave a very bad sore at the end – something very hard to heal.

Place your startup ahead of you

I totally agree, starting a venture is a risky business, but if you really want it succeed, you must place the future of startup ahead of your personal gains. People tend to think that there is a possibility that their startup would fail and then he/she would be stranded on the streets with no job. Yes, there is a finite probability that it might happen because of which so many people don’t take the plunge. But, did you give a thought about your startup’s future? What if a similar (probably the same idea!) startup like yours comes up in another 2 months? trust me, digesting that is very very hard!

You will curse yourself for not taking the plunge earlier and might even affect your current job. So follow your heart, follow your gut feeling – you don’t realize it’s power! Again, it’s not enough if you are the only person thinking this way, your entire team should have the same thought.