I have been fortunate enough to work with a set very good tech entrepreneurs. I have also as an investor, come across people who have fantastic skills in product development. What differentiates the two is that the former understands that building the product is not the end game. Value realization is in customer adoption. As a founder one has to have strong passion and conviction, articulate a vision, inspire people etc. Apart from these there are also a few very fundamental attributes that I think are critical.
Sell,Sell,Sell
To build a good product is so much more under your control than to get someone to pay for it. When is it the right time for the founder to get someone on board to sell? To arrive at this balance is what most tech start up teams struggle. To have someone in your founding team with customer facing skills is the ideal situation to be in, but it is not necessarily the case all the time. I am of the opinion that as a founder there is nobody better in the company who can talk more convincingly about the value of the product and company than you. In fact as a founder you are constantly selling, to customer, potential hires, investors,etc.
Cashflow is king
I have seen a number of firms with offerings like CFO on demand . They add value no doubt as start-ups cannot afford a CFO in their early stages and are more focused on product development. In fact most technology founders shy away as soon as you talk finance. As a techie you might not know profit and loss, balance sheet, etc. But as a CEO you have to understand finance. If you shy away from knowing / looking at the burn, you are on the way down the tube.
Metrics and Measurement
Another important attribute that I look for is how ruthlessly one measuring the progress. To have a strong metrics driven discipline from the beginning is very critical. It also shows how honest you are to your self being at the top. One might not get it right all the time but to be more sure about the decisions that are made information will go a long.
If you are looking to branch off on your own, I would encourage you to spend a little bit more time on some of the above too. Building a company takes a lot more doing than a product.
To build a good product is so much more under your control than to get someone to pay for it. When is it the right time for the founder to get someone on board to sell? To arrive at this balance is what most tech start up teams struggle. To have someone in your founding team with customer facing skills is the ideal situation to be in, but it is not necessarily the case all the time. I am of the opinion that as a founder there is nobody better in the company who can talk more convincingly about the value of the product and company than you. In fact as a founder you are constantly selling, to customer, potential hires, investors,etc.
Cashflow is king
I have seen a number of firms with offerings like CFO on demand . They add value no doubt as start-ups cannot afford a CFO in their early stages and are more focused on product development. In fact most technology founders shy away as soon as you talk finance. As a techie you might not know profit and loss, balance sheet, etc. But as a CEO you have to understand finance. If you shy away from knowing / looking at the burn, you are on the way down the tube.
Metrics and Measurement
Another important attribute that I look for is how ruthlessly one measuring the progress. To have a strong metrics driven discipline from the beginning is very critical. It also shows how honest you are to your self being at the top. One might not get it right all the time but to be more sure about the decisions that are made information will go a long.
If you are looking to branch off on your own, I would encourage you to spend a little bit more time on some of the above too. Building a company takes a lot more doing than a product.
