Great startup teams are like a great caper story, or a heist film.
The promoter is a master criminal in his own right, so successful he’s practically retired. But fortune favours the prepared mind; it turns out he wasn’t really retired – he was just being patient. Finally an opportunity arises that is worthy of his skills; because he is well-connected and alert to his field, he quickly becomes aware of it. He conceives an audacious plan. Even he can’t do it alone, so he assembles a team of specialists whose rare skills are needed to pull off the job.
That’s your startup: a skilled group of operators operating at the top of their game, assembled to go after a huge opportunity which is newly arisen.
All of these elements have to exist for the heist film to work.
Maybe the prize has been around for some time, but nobody’s figured out a way to capture it – until some new technology makes it possible, or some previously unavailable essential skill gets out of jail. That’s the innovation.
The audacious plan is the insight.
The team of specialists are your co-founders.
Sometimes the heist team meet another team whose eye is on the same prize. That’s the competition.
