Aleph Hospitality’s Post

I’ve been a part of starting six companies. I’ve mentored several dozen founding teams. I’ve invested in more than 100 early-stage companies, and I’ve heard countless pitches. All of that has given me a finely tuned sense of the factors that really matter for the success of an early-stage company. Here are my top three (in order): 1.) The Team 2.) The Team 3.) The Team Hopefully this comes as no great surprise (well, maybe that third one does). And if it does, then let me explain for a minute why your team matters more than everything else combined. When you’re in your early stages, there are a lot of unknowns, and plenty of elements that are guaranteed to change. Your initial product is just a hunch, you don’t have product/market fit, and you’re basically guessing about pricing, go-to-market, and customer type. Eventually, you’re going to realize that the only constant is your team. What really matters at this stage isn’t what you’re making, or how well-funded you are. Instead, it’s all about execution, flexibility, and persistence. And that all depends on the quality of your team. Not only that, but you’ll also realize that employee talent works on a power-curve: the best people are not just marginally better than average…they are many orders of magnitude better. So while my “Top Three” list is obviously tongue-in-cheek, my belief in the importance of talent isn’t.

I’ve been a part of starting six companies. I’ve mentored several dozen founding teams. I’ve invested in more than 100 early-stage companies, and I’ve heard countless pitches. All of that has given me a finely tuned sense of the factors that really matter for the success of an early-stage company. Here are my top three (in order): 1.) The Team 2.) The Team 3.) The Team Hopefully this comes as no great surprise (well, maybe that third one does). And if it does, then let me explain for a minute why your team matters more than everything else combined. When you’re in your early stages, there are a lot of unknowns, and plenty of elements that are guaranteed to change. Your initial product is just a hunch, you don’t have product/market fit, and you’re basically guessing about pricing, go-to-market, and customer type. Eventually, you’re going to realize that the only constant is your team. What really matters at this stage isn’t what you’re making, or how well-funded you are. Instead, it’s all about execution, flexibility, and persistence. And that all depends on the quality of your team. Not only that, but you’ll also realize that employee talent works on a power-curve: the best people are not just marginally better than average…they are many orders of magnitude better. So while my “Top Three” list is obviously tongue-in-cheek, my belief in the importance of talent isn’t.

I’ve been a part of starting six companies. I’ve mentored several dozen founding teams. I’ve invested in more than 100 early-stage companies, and I’ve heard countless pitches. All of that has given me a finely tuned sense of the factors that really matter for the success of an early-stage company. Here are my top three (in order): 1.) The Team 2.) The Team 3.) The Team Hopefully this comes as no great surprise (well, maybe that third one does). And if it does, then let me explain for a minute why your team matters more than everything else combined. When you’re in your early stages, there are a lot of unknowns, and plenty of elements that are guaranteed to change. Your initial product is just a hunch, you don’t have product/market fit, and you’re basically guessing about pricing, go-to-market, and customer type. Eventually, you’re going to realize that the only constant is your team. What really matters at this stage isn’t what you’re making, or how well-funded you are. Instead, it’s all about execution, flexibility, and persistence. And that all depends on the quality of your team. Not only that, but you’ll also realize that employee talent works on a power-curve: the best people are not just marginally better than average…they are many orders of magnitude better. So while my “Top Three” list is obviously tongue-in-cheek, my belief in the importance of talent isn’t.

I’ve been a part of starting six companies. I’ve mentored several dozen founding teams. I’ve invested in more than 100 early-stage companies, and I’ve heard countless pitches. All of that has given me a finely tuned sense of the factors that really matter for the success of an early-stage company. Here are my top three (in order): 1.) The Team 2.) The Team 3.) The Team Hopefully this comes as no great surprise (well, maybe that third one does). And if it does, then let me explain for a minute why your team matters more than everything else combined. When you’re in your early stages, there are a lot of unknowns, and plenty of elements that are guaranteed to change. Your initial product is just a hunch, you don’t have product/market fit, and you’re basically guessing about pricing, go-to-market, and customer type. Eventually, you’re going to realize that the only constant is your team. What really matters at this stage isn’t what you’re making, or how well-funded you are. Instead, it’s all about execution, flexibility, and persistence. And that all depends on the quality of your team. Not only that, but you’ll also realize that employee talent works on a power-curve: the best people are not just marginally better than average…they are many orders of magnitude better.

I’ve been a part of starting six companies. I’ve mentored several dozen founding teams. I’ve invested in more than 100 early-stage companies, and I’ve heard countless pitches. All of that has given me a finely tuned sense of the factors that really matter for the success of an early-stage company. Here are my top three (in order): 1.) The Team 2.) The Team 3.) The Team Hopefully this comes as no great surprise (well, maybe that third one does). And if it does, then let me explain for a minute why your team matters more than everything else combined. When you’re in your early stages, there are a lot of unknowns, and plenty of elements that are guaranteed to change. Your initial product is just a hunch, you don’t have product/market fit, and you’re basically guessing about pricing, go-to-market, and customer type. Eventually, you’re going to realize that the only constant is your team. What really matters at this stage isn’t what you’re making, or how well-funded you are. Instead, it’s all about execution, flexibility, and persistence. And that all depends on the quality of your team. Not only that, but you’ll also realize that employee talent works on a power-curve: the best people are not just marginally better than average…they are many orders of magnitude better. So while my “Top Three” list is obviously tongue-in-cheek, my belief in the importance of talent isn’t.

I’ve been a part of starting six companies. I’ve mentored several dozen founding teams. I’ve invested in more than 100 early-stage companies, and I’ve heard countless pitches. All of that has given me a finely tuned sense of the factors that really matter for the success of an early-stage company. Here are my top three (in order): 1.) The Team 2.) The Team 3.) The Team Hopefully this comes as no great surprise (well, maybe that third one does). And if it does, then let me explain for a minute why your team matters more than everything else combined. When you’re in your early stages, there are a lot of unknowns, and plenty of elements that are guaranteed to change. Your initial product is just a hunch, you don’t have product/market fit, and you’re basically guessing about pricing, go-to-market, and customer type. Eventually, you’re going to realize that the only constant is your team. What really matters at this stage isn’t what you’re making, or how well-funded you are. Instead, it’s all about execution, flexibility, and persistence. And that all depends on the quality of your team. Not only that, but you’ll also realize that employee talent works on a power-curve: the best people are not just marginally better than average…they are many orders of magnitude better.

I’ve been a part of starting six companies. I’ve mentored several dozen founding teams. I’ve invested in more than 100 early-stage companies, and I’ve heard countless pitches. All of that has given me a finely tuned sense of the factors that really matter for the success of an early-stage company. Here are my top three (in order): 1.) The Team 2.) The Team 3.) The Team Hopefully this comes as no great surprise (well, maybe that third one does). And if it does, then let me explain for a minute why your team matters more than everything else combined. When you’re in your early stages, there are a lot of unknowns, and plenty of elements that are guaranteed to change. Your initial product is just a hunch, you don’t have product/market fit, and you’re basically guessing about pricing, go-to-market, and customer type. Eventually, you’re going to realize that the only constant is your team. What really matters at this stage isn’t what you’re making, or how well-funded you are. Instead, it’s all about execution, flexibility, and persistence. And that all depends on the quality of your team. Not only that, but you’ll also realize that employee talent works on a power-curve: the best people are not just marginally better than average…they are many orders of magnitude better.

I’ve been a part of starting six companies. I’ve mentored several dozen founding teams. I’ve invested in more than 100 early-stage companies, and I’ve heard countless pitches. All of that has given me a finely tuned sense of the factors that really matter for the success of an early-stage company. Here are my top three (in order): 1.) The Team 2.) The Team 3.) The Team Hopefully this comes as no great surprise (well, maybe that third one does). And if it does, then let me explain for a minute why your team matters more than everything else combined. When you’re in your early stages, there are a lot of unknowns, and plenty of elements that are guaranteed to change. Your initial product is just a hunch, you don’t have product/market fit, and you’re basically guessing about pricing, go-to-market, and customer type. Eventually, you’re going to realize that the only constant is your team. What really matters at this stage isn’t what you’re making, or how well-funded you are. Instead, it’s all about execution, flexibility, and persistence. And that all depends on the quality of your team. Not only that, but you’ll also realize that employee talent works on a power-curve: the best people are not just marginally better than average…they are many orders of magnitude better.