Establishing Your Founding Team

April 19, 2024

When you're considering bringing on the founding member of a Go-To-Market (GTM) business unit, there are several factors you may feel are necessary.

Picture This: as the Founder, along with the peer leadership you've assembled, you're poised to launch your product into the market, engage with customers, and make a grand entrance with your remarkable product.

While prominent companies are appealing and desirable on resumes, early-stage startups don't necessarily require candidates from these well-known companies for several reasons:

• Your startup is not yet recognized, so you must pave the way

• Startups can be chaotic yet exciting, requiring individuals who thrive in such an environment rather than seek more structure

• Founding team members in startups must be willing to roll up their sleeves and handle various tasks independently

• Candidates from large corporations have the advantage of tools, resources, and established processes

At this stage, consider what you can afford, what you truly need, and what will propel your company forward:

• Technical skillset + business acumen: Ability to effectively communicate the value of your product and your vision

• Grit - candidates with prior startup experience are certainly beneficial because they know the type of environment they’re walking into

• True Interest - candidates that focus on impact over titles

• Realistic expectations about career progression and leadership roles *Resist the temptation to sell the future: just because they’re a founding individual contributor doesn’t necessarily mean they’re the shoe-in for the first leadership role...unless you tell them so

• Experience diversity: target candidates with diverse work experiences rather than exclusively from big-name tech companies

• Evaluate work patterns rather than simply tenure in each role held (Example: Large company: 3 years; Startup: 10 months; Another startup: 11 months; Return to the same large company)

This pattern suggests that the startup environment may not have been suitable for the candidate due to personal or professional reasons, and that's okay, however, it’s a progression to avoid for your founding team member hire.

By establishing clear expectations for day-to-day operations and outlining organizational goals for the next 6, 12, and 18 months, you can build your founding team more effectively.

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