First off I prefer to work with partners, never did like the work solo approach, more on that later...
One of the most amazing lessons I learned with our first startup is the importance of choosing the right partner(s). Here is a bit about our experience.
We were all in the same university, with similar backgrounds, this made it easier for us to understand each other and be on the same wavelength. On the other hand we came from completely different academic/skill set backgrounds, Mass Communication (IMC), Economics, and Computer Science - Sales & Marketing, Operations & Finance, Developer &Programmer. This is were we got our strength. We complemented each other, we trusted each others judgment in our separate domains although we didn't have much experience, but we each new more about our domains than the other two. Which brings me to another great advantage we had although we didn't mean it, but it proved critical when we were confronted with taking major strategic decisions in our business. We were three, so when we couldn't all agree, the two that did got their way.
A general tip if you are the CEO and the ultimate decision maker, is to always engage with your team, and listen to their opinion before taking any major strategic decisions. Your team needs to own your product just like they do, it has to be their baby too not just yours.
1. Choose partners who share your same set of principles and ethics
2. Choose partners you can trust…BLINDLY
3. Choose partners from different academic/work backgrounds than yourself
4. Choose partners that complement your skill set not match it
5. Choose partners that share the same passion as you do for your startup
6. When it comes to partners, odd numbers work best
What has been your experience in working solo or with partners?
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