Build something people want to build

            You’ve probably heard the classic “make something people want”, but even more than idea, funding or know how, the biggest advantage you can have when starting a company is an exceptional team.

Every individual you add to your team in the beginning has an outsized impact on your company. Everything from their brilliance to bad habits will weave its way into the fabric of your organization and stay long after they’re gone. No pressure.

It’s a trite trope that investors invest in teams and not ideas, but it’s done for a reason: a great team is a better indicator of a projects potential for success than anything else.

So, this being such a defining characteristic, how can we optimize it?

The best way to set an exceptional team is building something that people actually want to build.

Don’t build some value extrating native advertisement bullshit middle man network. Don’t build a cheaper knock-off.

Even if you’re looking at the world through the lense of die-hard capitalism, it’s still the better choice to do something fun.

Build something that’s going to make a difference, something extraordinary, a challenge and something you’d feel proud telling your grandkids about. If you find that thing there’s a good chance a brilliant person somewhere will share that feeling with you and join the adventure.