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RE: Team to start a business

Ben Rowland — Sun, 08 Apr 2007 11:15:56 GMT

Yolande (3/24/2007)

I absolutely get what you are saying, however in my world its not a quesition of finding motivated people but rather find someone or a companywho are moved enough by my business plan to actually fork out capital... maybe I have been looking in the wrong place?

There are significant challenges with taking on a business partner simply because they are bringing capital to the table. Will they have the true passion for the business that you will? Will they act as a silent partner, or will they want a management role in the company? What happens if they don't share the same ideas about the direction of the business that you do? Any time you take someone's money, there are strings attached. These strings will become obvious at some point, and it won't be pretty. You first need to ask yourself if you can handle that.

Ben

RE: Team to start a business

saurabh.msh — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 08:37:03 GMT

hi
so small to reply
but i think enthusiastic and balanced partner are more needed. u can have complimenting skill set but if u dont have tuning
then it is difficult to run a start up, as under pressure disputes will emerge
saurabh

RE: Team to start a business

Yolande — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:29:14 GMT

I absolutely get what you are saying, however in my world its not a quesition of finding motivated people but rather find someone or a company who are moved enough by my business plan to actually fork out capital... maybe I have been looking in the wrong place?

RE: Team to start a business

lectri — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 16:12:10 GMT

I am an MBA entrepreneur ready capitalized seeking partner with same.

RE: Team to start a business

wealthconsultant — Sun, 06 Aug 2006 13:02:06 GMT

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RE: Team to start a business

ecommercechina — Wed, 24 May 2006 12:53:57 GMT

I agree that business partners are rare to find. I am researching the ecommerce of China, and looking forward to starting a eccomerce company in Beijing. However, none of the team members of my graduate school is going for the risk. I am seeing the next booming stage of ecommerce in China, as many things that can be easily done on the internet here in the States is not online yet in China. Like booking hotels, finding services, finding freelance, and etc. I am trying to open a service website in China, more like SERVICEMAGIC.COM, or HOTELS.COM, & ELANCE.COM. Do not know where to start, since I will be needing angel investors at a certain stage.

Anyway, I am new here, and I am open to any good advice.

RE: Team to start a business

mpheery3 — Wed, 03 May 2006 11:18:31 GMT

Thanks to all - I'm new to this forum - just found it today when doing some research to help me out in my startup.

I have some real specific issues that I am dealing with. They are more in the area of now that I've found a potential candidate to partner, contribute sweat equity etc., how do I make it happen, the partnership I mean.

The scenario is bootstrapped an idea - over a 3 year timeframe with lots of personal sweat equity. Now I am ready to divvy up the pie but want some folks to prove themselves first as valuable partners.

So, I have a timeline to build a beta product (need resources to help with this) & also build a detail business plan, architecture & design for the big, scalable business while generating revenue from the follow-on beta product. Then go get some Angel funding to grow the business by developing he wrapper technologies, & acquiring more distribution partners (hotels in my case). Already have a LOI from a hotel group to be my first customer too.

So, is that enough info for comments please? If you need more input just let me know, but what I am after is suggested formulas for equity stakes, sweat equity investment that converts to equity stakes & agreement templates to get started in this real opportunity.

Also, want to make sure I do these relationships right so an Angel investor will not stomp on them & make the partner feel like there isn't a protected stake in the to-be-formed entity.

Thanks for any help you great folks can provide,

Marvin

RE: Team to start a business

Ben Rowland — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 20:11:32 GMT

Thanks, Alex. We look forward to hearing back from you!

Ben

RE: Team to start a business

AlexN — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 23:24:21 GMT

Thanks to all for your generous and helpful responses. This is a good time to post questions on this Forum as it is still relatively small and one gets plenty of attention from founders and guests.

I realize the need be more specific in my questions in order to fully benefit from your comments. I will be back for more focused questions!

Regards,

Alex N.

813 505 1875.

RE: Team to start a business

Dr. VC — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 13:55:03 GMT

Alex, these are some really good suggestions that other people have provided! I hope you've found them helpful. Thanks everyone for "chiming in" on this post. Great ideas!

RE: Team to start a business

acceleweb — Mon, 20 Feb 2006 11:48:32 GMT

Hello,

Just to chime in.. MBA students are risk-adverse by nature. If they weren't, they'd be starting up a business instead of going to b-school <I'm a product of one and I've seen the folks that go! >. Some good ways to find risk-taking folks would probably be start-up seminars, how to start small business seminars at your local chamber of commerce, technology-clubs <a lot of tech folks prefer small to large since they are easier to make an impact at>, and entrepreunerial get-togethers. In large cities, it's easier to find these folks then smaller ones I think as well, since you have a larger customer base to sell to, there is a higher-motivation to start a business.

RE: Team to start a business

Ben Rowland — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 16:49:15 GMT

Know any college professors? You could ask them to recommend some students for internships.

RE: Team to start a business

BRodda — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 07:44:39 GMT

I tend to go to places like where people are presenting business plans or other Entrepreneur heavy environments. I go primarily to make contacts, but you never know when you might meet someone who 3-4 months down the road might have decided their plan is not as good as yours and want to hook up. Just remember, it's never to early to play the acquisition game. Chances are there are other people working on something similar to what you want to do and you can merge the two companies and have a much better chance of succeeding.

Side note: Oddest thing I ever looked for a partners was creating and posting fliers at universities where I knew MBA students would be. Most of them are raring to go and they have very little risk adversion.

RE: Team to start a business

raymndp — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 00:57:33 GMT

What is the business? Where is it located? What skill sets are you looking for in a partner(s)? What would you want them to bring to the partnership (e.g. capital, human capital, etc)? What will they get in return?

RE: Team to start a business

mdfxtreme — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 09:40:05 GMT

ALEX N; IN GENERAL MOST PEOPLE LIKE TO STAY IN THEIR COMFORT ZONE AND VERY

FEW WILL TAKE A RISK EVEN IF THE RISK IS SMALL. GO FOR IT! IT WILL TAKE TIME TO

FIND THE RIGHT MATCHED PEOPLE WHICH WILL HAVE THE SAME VISION AS YOU;THIS

IS CRITICAL TO FIND THE RIGHT TEAM. THOSE PEOPLE WILL MAKE IT OR BREAK IT! DO

NOT GIVE UP JUST GO FOR IT NOW. IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME PEOPLE WILL BE

KNOCKING ON YOUR DOOR TO COME WORK FOR YOU.

RE: Team to start a business

Ben Rowland — Sat, 11 Feb 2006 13:56:10 GMT

This is a great question.

I have a few comments to share:

First, don't go into business with friends or family members as partners, no matter how good your intentions and no matter how solid the contracts or operating agreements are. Things won't end up well. Be prepared to destroy your relationship with those people. Worse, you won't hold them accountable the same way you would hold a business partner accountable, and you're feel uncomfortable telling them what to do.

Second, your comments about people with an "employee mentality" are accurate. This has been an enormous problem for me, too. It's completely true. People do have this mentality. Some of them may have the right disposition for it, but it has yet to be unlocked. There is another type of person to avoid, however. That is the person who thinks they have the start-up partner mentality, but is really just after the stock options, equity, and weekend golf. Hopefully the market correction has weeded a lot of these folks out. Starting a business is not for the faint of heart.

Finally, Dr. VC is right about finding people who complement your skills. When I first went into business, I picked a few other techie people to be partners. This was a huge mistake because I am a software developer, too. Thus, we had a bunch of motivated software developers ready to build an unknown product for an unknown target audience. The same applies if everyone in sales. It doesn't matter how great everyone's sales skills are if you don't have a product.

RE: Team to start a business

Dr. VC — Fri, 10 Feb 2006 16:17:41 GMT

This is a general question...but it's a darned good one: How/where does a budding entrepreneur find motivated people who are willing to take a risk?

The answer is: Everywhere. And nowhere. There is no "one size fits all" approach to this question.

Here are some sources where you potentially may find great business partners: Current/former schoolmates, personal friends, current professional associates, past professional associates, complete strangers you met at networking events, referrals from mutual acquaintances.

And here are some sources where you may find absolutely horrible business partners: Current/former schoolmates, personal friends, current professional associates, past professional associates, complete strangers you met at networking events, referrals from mutual acquaintances.

"Hey!" you might be saying to yourself. "Those two lists are the identical!"

"Yes, they are," I say to myself. "Instead of focusing on finding the places where you can find partners who are entrepreneurial risk takers, focus on finding partners you can work with. Partners who compliment your skill set. For example, maybe you're a great sales person, but your accounting skills are poor. A (potentially) great fit would be to find an accounting and finance wiz who realizes he's not a sales person."

Another thing to remember is there is no right or wrong answer. Everyone has a different tolerence to risk. Just because some people do not have an interest in chucking everything and taking some wild *** risks with their careers, doens't make them bad. It probably makes them people who have children, mortgages, and other worries.

As for you last question, why are you waiting for a partner? If you have an idea, if you have a way to hustle some bucks and start your own business...do it! Arise, you entrepreneurs of the world, you have nothing to lose but your paychecks. And your savings. And your credit ratings. And your houses.

But if you believe in yourself, if you are hardworking, resourceful, and if you realize you don't need an outside investment before you can make sales calls...you just might have a chance!

Good luck, and let us know how things go.

Team to start a business

AlexN — Wed, 08 Feb 2006 21:16:24 GMT

I realize this is a very general question.

How do we find our future business partners? I am having difficulty meeting motivated individuals who are willing to forego some personal comfort to get a business started. I feel like I am surrounded by employee-mentality individuals who are reluctant to take any risks in life.

May I should stop looking for a partner and just go on my own?

Regards,