Good to Great author Jim Collins answers questions

money.cnn.com

4 points·jamongkad··4 comments

"They followed the "first who" approach to entrepreneurship: First figure out your partners, then figure out what ideas to pursue. The most important thing isn't the market you target, the product you develop or the financing, but the founding team."

This morsel of advice sounds familiar, doesn't it? Lone entrepreneurs of yc.news: Less justifying reasons to stay a one-person team, more getting a good buddy to embark on the startup journey with you.

It's interesting to hear this advice from multiple channels. I was just on phone with iJigg cofounder (zaidf on news.yc) and he emphasized this point as well.

I finished reading first three chapters of "Founders At Work", and this advice seems to be consistent with all three interviewees. I am sure there are exceptions to the rule; but generally speaking, it pays to have a good team.

"Good to Great" and "Built to Last" are both amazing books. But I do not recommend it to startup founders unless you're planning for an IPO. Both books were written to entice established corporations (GE, Sony, P&G, etc) not startups. CEO's of big companies will certainly find Jim Collins of much help, but us startup founders won't. Though, it is a definite read if you've some spare time on your hand :)

I could'nt agree more ;) having a team, especially a good team is very important for a start up. The reason I think it's common on multiple channels cuz it's the most important thing imho. I agree that there are some chapters in "Good to Great" that are not exactly applicable to startups. But maybe I can extract a few that that I believe is essential to start up life. Such as the "first who" approach, and the equally important "Stockdale Paradox".

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