Partners In Crime

Finding the right crew. The secret sauce of startup success.

I believe that the journey toward goals often matters  more than the destination. Because of  this it has always been crucial for me to start important endeavors with good people. Achieving things takes time so being surrounded by the right crowd has always been a priority for me. 

Let me tell you a story about my journey.

I've always valued independence. I didn’t like anyone telling me what to do or what not to do. In high school it wasn’t clear to me who I wanted to become. I wanted to be self-reliant - and the sooner the better. That attitude meant I could try different jobs early on. Towards the end of high school, I started looking for seasonal jobs. I wasn’t picky. I worked in construction, restaurants, etc. The fact that I was getting paid for fairly simple tasks was mind blowing. 

At university, a friend of mine invited me to join him on a work trip to the US for the summer. As it turned out the group grew to nine people. All high school friends. My English wasn’t fluent. I needed to borrow money to go. To remain throughout the summer, everyone had to secure a job within the first two weeks of the trip. Those two weeks were stressful. I vividly remember our conversations on how to find one, where to look for it and who to speak to. Going through it together made the process easier. I was among peers who faced similar challenges, I could learn from them and help them. Additionally seeing friends finding jobs added encouragement. To some extent, it made the process simpler. We all made it through. 

These four months on Long Island in 2006 shaped my perception of how the future should look. Many people, most younger than me, were self-sufficient. It was natural for them. Summer was “the season”. It’s when you make money. The smarter and the more hardworking you are, the bigger the prize can be. I really enjoyed an approach like that. It was different from what I was used to:  one finishes school, finds a position in a well established company, and builds career step by step. I met young people who were starting businesses. It was fresh, exciting. I loved it. 

That summer made me realize that becoming an entrepreneur was definitely an option to consider.

After getting back to Poland - Pawel, my high school friend and future co-founder of Base and Applicake - asked me to help him finish an on-line video editor project he worked on through the summer. I gave it a shot. We were inexperienced programmers. We asked Agata - also future co-founder of Base and Applicake - to join us.  The application was built in Ruby on Rails - a web application framework released by David Heinemeier Hansson two years earlier. Neither of us knew Ruby or Rails. We had to learn it quickly. We assumed that to finish the project would take us a month. It actually took us 6. It was rough. Never ending. But we made it. It was an achievement on many levels: we learned a ton, everyone showed their commitment, teamwork played out. We felt unstoppable. The commercial part wasn't great, but we didn't care. 

Having one project in the portfolio encouraged us to look for more.  We decided to start a business together, Applicake, a software development house. The fourth person to join us was Ela who would help in acquiring customers. 

Early on, we decided to show our clients who we were and how we worked. We believed that it would help us win customers.  It turned out to be a great strategy. The other outcome of this approach was that people wanted to work with us more.

Over the next 2 years we grew the team to 20 people. It was awesome. We mostly worked with our friends who we knew from before. It was going well, however there were things which started bothering us. 

Clients would generally build a prototype of a first version of a product with us. Most of them would fail after launch. Some would manage to gain initial traction after the release. Founders of those would typically hire internal teams quickly. In both cases we couldn’t continue working on projects and had to find new clients. 

We started wondering why to develop a product for others rather than build our own. 

In late 2008 we connected with Uzi, a designer, who also ran a web agency. Uzi noticed that sales management software available on the market is complex and expensive. In order to manage sales one needs to effectively track interactions with customers and prospects. We realized that a simple, intuitive and affordable solution, specifically for small businesses was missing. The challenge resonated with us. We managed Applicake’s sales in a spreadsheet - which was not perfect.  Solutions available were not great. We decided to give it a shot. 

There is a lot to say about what happens next, and I will, however my main conclusion even from the early experiences is that the key to success was always to start and enjoy the journey with the right crowd, rather than by myself. I believe that to be a fundamental principle of starting a startup.  Why?

Starting a startup is challenging for one person

First of all, there is so much work. I really mean it. Specifically in the beginning, when there is a lot of uncertainty and quick iterations, being able to move fast is key. Secondly, even if one person could do all the work - you need others to challenge ideas, brainstorm with and support you in difficult situations. 

The greater the range of skills among founders, the better

Ideally founders should have complementary skills. Between people who started Base there was expertise in: design, product, tech, marketing and sales. It was a pretty strong mix which allowed us to shorten early iterations. It was also simpler to decide who would be responsible for different areas of the business later on.

It’s easier to convince others to support the initiative  

Generally speaking, companies founded by a group of people who know each other well, build more confidence among investors and future hires. Investors know that building a startup by yourself is hard - not impossible, but hard. So all things being equal, in the majority of cases they will choose to invest in businesses with more than one founder. Some might just say a straight "no" for any investment in a company with a single founder.

There is a similar situation with hiring. The Founder's job is to convince strangers that a project that started 3 months earlier, with little or no customers and money in the bank, at some point will get off to a flying start. 

Helps in constant progress 

There are projects which take over all the attention of a founder. A good example is raising money. You want to spend as little time on it, just get the job done and move forward. In reality it takes so much focus. Reaching out to investors, prepping, pitching, providing materials, then additional materials, following up, negotiating a term sheet, due diligence. It’s a struggle. With more people in a founding team one person can lead this kind of effort and others can progress in other areas. 

It's easier to keep pushing

“You only lose when you stop trying”. With good people on board you might simply just keep pushing as you do not want to disappoint your friend. I experienced that many times myself: “How can I go home if Pawel is still coding?”. Sharing the same struggles, emotions and ambitions simply helps to carry on. 

Trust is stronger than any contract 

Starting a startup with someone you know well reduces the likelihood of disappointment. It's much easier to assess  the pros and cons of working together. Establishing a company requires considerable legal work around investors and employees, among other things. But with co-founders, all you need is mutual understanding and trust that joint decisions are final and don't need reconsideration.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution for finding a co-founder. In my case it was always people who I knew for a while that I could trust, fast learners and doers. I was sure they could commit to an idea in a major way. We knew each other typically from school. We also liked each other. That helps as you’re going to spend so much time together. 

Looking back it seems much easier to find people to start a startup when you are young. Now, I’m 38, and even though I’ve met and worked with hundreds of people, it’s difficult to find someone my age who is ready to commit in a big way to starting a business together. Most people work somewhere, have families, have life routines and are comfortable. In my mid-twenties it felt that it was the exact opposite. 

In conclusion, it seems that the best time to start a startup is when it's easiest to find the right partners in crime, which is usually when you are young.

I’m open to invest and/or help your startup grow. If you have any questions or thoughts don’t hesitate to reach out at bart@founderspond.com or DM me at @kiszal on Twitter.