To Build the Perfect Team, Software, and Startup Company

We’ve been working on Public Chalk for over a year now. Well, that is a bit strong – because we started out on a completely different path before we settled on what, exactly, we were building. Along the way, we made plenty of mistakes, learned a few things, and we’ve actually progressed!

If you want to join us tonight to talk during the Vice Presidential candidate debate, come to Public Chalk and register. You’ll be put right into the Biden vs Palin crew. You can also read what others have said even if you are a few days behind.

If you just want to read about what I promised in the title… read on…

1. Realize that there is no such thing as a perfect team. Somebody is going to be annoying – and if you can’t pick out the annoying team member, it is you.
2. Pay everyone lots of money. This may prove slightly problematic in a startup company. If it isn’t, good for you! If you are like the rest of us you’re going to have to get creative.
3. Realize your strengths and work in that direction. If you are not the sales guy, do not do sales. If you are not the techie guy, do not install the new servers. Of course, if you are working on a startup, learn the job and do it, otherwise, it won’t happen.
4. Write a great business plan and put together a great presentation to get everyone you work with super-excited about your idea. Then bury it in the drawer and forget about it because no one else is going to get as excited as you are and your idea will be unrecognizable within the first 2 weeks of development.
5. Roll out your software quickly and see what everyone thinks. Naturally, most people won’t be able to log in and you either over-thought every part of your application making it insanely complex even for the brightest people or you didn’t in which case no one will be interested.
6. Always listen to and respond to feedback from your primary investors. Okay, this one is probably a good thing to do 90% of the time. The other 10% just nod, ignore, and move on.
7. Recognize all your goals, repay your debts, make some money or raise some funds or help starving puppies or whatever your startup was supposed to do.
8. Have fun along the way. Repeat.

ETJ