I believe most of us witnessed that breathtaking scene of the end game where the Iron Man Snap his finger and save the world in those Milliseconds. Marvel Studios Avengers was one of the finest movie franchisees that had earned money and fan followings in billions.
It all started when an innovative man was imprisoned in a cave and had to face many problems with limited resources and I think all you of the startup founders can relate to that. Problems are always larger than the amount of resources available. Not like any other superhero, Iron man has built his suit with mind and skills only. Heroes like the Avengers make us dream of what it might be like to develop superpowers. Part of their appeal is that, unlike the X-Men, many of these powers were not genetic but obtained through some fluke event – which means we might just be able to relate to it.
Each superhero from avenger characters tends to be unapologetically human, powers combining with personality traits to give each one advantages and disadvantages. Just like to save the universe in marvel studio they build avengers to save your startup you need to find your avengers.
“Great things in business are never done by one person. They’re done by a team of people.”
– Steve Jobs, Founder
No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you’re playing a solo game, you’ll always lose out to a team. Finding these people who you can call your team is a very important and challenging task, but nobody said it's going to be easy, so let's figure out first why it's important to find the right superheroes for your startups.
Importance of strong team in startup
Determine your fate: As an entrepreneur, if you have a great idea but you don't have the right team, It can be one of the reasons that your startup will fail in the future or face failure. It’s important for the entrepreneur to build the team for the successful achievement of goals, not just for the sake of filling the positions.
Custom-fit your core team: An organization’s culture is a combination of the natural personality, beliefs, and values of the founding team, including the entrepreneur. Therefore, the culture of any startup is heavily affected by the values and beliefs of the core team. Also building a culture is not an overnight task and needs to be worked upon in the long run, and most of the contribution will be done by your core team. They serve as ideal in propagating the values that your company stands for belief in and avoiding any conflicts or disagreements at a later stage.
Synergies to your effort: the great team is one where one member’s strength is the weakness of the other. The right composition of team members will bring synergies to your effort by complementing each other’s skills and competencies, including yours. As the founder, you should always look for the people who know the things you don’t. Building your network strong across the value chain and a team with team members having unique and different skills is very important to fight the battle like avengers. For instance, while you might be an innovative person like tony stark, it will work to your advantage if you have a hardcore technical scientist like Dr. Bruce Banner( the Hulk) in your team or vice-versa for your tech startup because diverse skills are required to run a startup.
VCs prefer startups with a solid core team: In order to be a mind-blowing idea for an in venture capitalist, you have to be more than just an idea.it is said that the VCs are not only looking for an idea that has a competitive advantage but also for a great team that can implement it successfully to achieve those numbers. The reason behind why VCs prefer solid core teams in startups is that the Market where they have to operate is always going to be a dynamic and changing environment. So it's important to have a core team that can handle and execute all these working of the startup to achieve the objectives of the organization.
To Keep Founders Aligned to the Journey: No battle is fought alone, as the founder needs someone to share his passion. His team will be the ones to celebrate when the business is doing well but they will also cheer him up and give support during tough times. The right team will stand by the founder through the testing times and help the ship to stay afloat.
Team Members you Need for your Startup
Avengers journey helps startups explore a business idea and approach from a variety of angles, by also factoring in the knowledge and attitudes of the team, ensuring the viability of the venture to be higher before the next leap is taken. What exactly are the main roles you will need across your journey or at least during the first year of it? This depends on your startup’s industry, stage, and other factors of course, but generally speaking, there are some roles that every startup will need in order to get properly built and in order to grow.
Captain of America: we can say, he might not be the strongest but the captain was really good at "captaincy". A born leader, always manage team efforts, assign a task to people based on their strength, is calm but assertive, and plans according to the big picture. These three letters stand for Chief Executive Officer, the leader, the dreamer, no matter the title, a startup, and any company in general needs a CEO. Because he knows the ins and the outs of the business and how the puzzle pieces come together, the CEO is the one who will make the major decisions. These decisions might change the future of the startup, thus his undoubted importance as a team leader and member.
Iron man: Tony Stark is a tech genius, perhaps even a genius all-around. However, he is very proud and stubborn, and because he has a seemingly infinite amount of money, he sometimes assumes money can solve problems. He built his first suit while being captive in a cage while the rest of us find it difficult to make fire without gas. In the early stage of a startup, good quality products make the company stand out, and building a good product needs a solid engineering team. A team member who specializes in technology and development is crucial to your business's success, especially for tech startups.
Black widow: In spite of having no superhuman powers, the Black Widow is an expert martial artist with thorough interrogation skills, a scientific mind, and hacking skills. Career-driven, she is the sole female Avenger and is the only person who can calm the Hulk down to a gentle version of his green self and back into Dr. Banner. No team is complete without the presence of the female character. although the startup industry is male-dominated, adding a female to your team brings a whole new perspective for many solutions and creates balance in your team.
Thor: this avenger has the most dramatic entrance among others and brings charm to your team . he can fly, has a cool hammer that only he can use. Find a marketing manager that is a jack-of-all-trades. Chief Marketing Officer or Marketing Director is also an important role especially for startups, and you should not settle for anyone here. This team member will focus on your customers and how they view your product or service.
The Hulk: the strongest person in the team without a doubt and Smash thing. So who is that Dr. bruce banner / green monster combo on your team. Who can be our hulk, interns! that's right, young fresh minds have a lot of untapped potential by nurturing these young minds we can help them to unleash their potential. While it risks being reactive rather than proactive, it can also bypass “bandaid solutions” and go straight to the root of a problem. This earmarks it as visionary and potentially transformative.
To wrap up
As a startup owner what we can take away from the avengers is to fight our own battle, that in order to find that one chance in a billion to win we need to define our mission and make sure that every member of the team is aligned to the mission. Make sure that the Personal and Professional goals of the team members are well aligned.
However, I did not mention hawk but he is the only one who is human and has a family which makes him the person who has a lot to lose. He did not come in limelight but always have motivated and helped his peers to win the battles. Such, features should be essential for HR to be able to create a good environment for the employees and motivate them.
We at Flyboat are always focused on empowering entrepreneurs with informed decision-making and building good is one of them. so stay connected for more such learning and to know about us more visit our website and schedule a meeting for our services.
In order to achieve sustainable growth and success, every startup needs its own avengers to fight the Thanos which is in form of challenges and hurdles in everyday business life. Be prepared to win the battle, not the fight!
Amazing article