Last week I was so excited I could barely sit still in my seat. On stage at NYU for the National Education Week, stood Ivan Shumkov, CEO and Founder of Open Online Academy, who I was mentoring at the EDGE Ed Tech Accelerator here in New York.
And he was busy pitching to several hundred of the top investors, mentors, and experts in our industry. Soon after, several investors approached Ivan who are now working to complete his $500,000 seed round. But it didn’t start that way. Two years ago, Ivan had only his vision and passion for what he wanted to do: “Learn to Build a Better World.”
He knew that by leveraging this vision would build his team, which he sorely needed to accomplish his vision. It would also be the first thing investors would look at. His team quickly grew to 16 professors and 19 board members and advisors.
All of them now working together on global projects and courses to build resilient and sustainable cities across the globe
Six Steps to Building Your Dream Team (With Almost Nothing)
1. Get clear on your why
2. Build your vision
- Microsoft’s (used to be): a computer on every desk;
- Acupuncturist’s: healing humanity; and
- BEST Coaches’: entrepreneurs will save our planet and communities
3. Design your playing field
Pick team positions that complement your skills. Who will help build up your company. Typical team positions are: sales, finance, legal, accounting, administration, etc. List which you need, and when.
4. Identify really smart players
You are only as effective as the team you build around yourself. Preferably smarter than you.
5. Attract them to your team
You will to approach them while keeping their guard down. Sharing your Why and/or vision will help you attract those who believe what you believe. Approach several people for each position. Trust that you will attract the right people.
6. Be generous
Each person is different in what they want/need from you. It’s a negotiation. Some may only be interested in a title, a role, or office space, and some may be interested in recurring income, or equity. Find out what they want and package it generously.
Tips:
- Have a powerful vision/why—from this you build.
- Have clear milestones—they must know exactly what is expected from them, and when.
- Trust the process—depending on the person, their experience, and your needs, plan on 1-6 months to get your team together.
- Have mutual respect—make sure you like and trust each other. Otherwise, keep looking.
- Don’t give away equity—for the 1st year (exceptions: if you already know the person well). You need to know you play well in the sandbox together.
BTW, how do I know this works? Because I use it too.
My new company, the Shift Group, built an incredible team of 10, and board of 9 that has helped us raise capital, find customers, and build our entrepreneur education platform.
And we paid almost no money so far!
Our why statement:
“We believe the fastest way to not just stop destroying our planet and communities, but start restoring them, is by showing people how to make money doing it.”