The Brains Behind Everything At the core of every startup, there is an idea. It’s this idea that differentiates one business from another, and it’s this idea that can be boiled down to a sentence. But, there are a myriad of problems that accompany an idea, and in order to build a company, a founder must deal with each one. Many young entrepreneurs, and those early in their careers, assume that they can solve all of these problems themselves. If the technical side of the business were simply left up to them, they’d be fine. But, as everyone knows, building a company is a messy process that requires significant help from those who are more talented in these various areas of business. As such, a founder must learn to surround himself with the right people and to make sure that they are working towards a common goal. With respect to technical talent, every company needs this. A startup needs to solve an actual problem, and for a startup to be sustainable, they’re going to need someone who is able to build it. Without a technological solution, there’s no business. As an organization grows, this need for technology becomes even more important. The same goes for human talent. Without these skilled employees, founders will struggle to hire talented employees themselves, to get their service providers to be efficient, and to get investors to invest. All of these things require not only people to operate, but the best people to operate. If the team isn’t operating in a professional, efficient manner, they have no chance of succeeding. In many ways, this is the easiest aspect of founding a business. You need employees, and you need investors; as such, these are the two elements that provide you with the resources you need to solve your problem. As with anything, however, this is an imperfect process. Investors are not perfect, and just like employees, they can be both great and terrible at what they do. In addition, investors are individuals. In many ways, they’re like founders themselves, and because they’re not always great at what they do, they can be as problematic to the process as the founders themselves. That said, it is the investors who put in the money, and because they do this, they control the business and can make sure that it succeeds. Because of this, the founder has to trust the investors. And the investors do have to trust the founders. This is difficult, and in many ways, it’s the most important element of entrepreneurship. Once money is in, it’s often very difficult to get out, and as such, a founder needs to make sure that he’s working with a trustworthy group of investors. Every founder needs investors like these, and in fact, this is what makes or breaks most start-ups. However, not all investors are equal, and there are very few bad ones. As such, while this is a difficult and complex element of business, it’s also the most necessary one. As such, founders must learn to trust the investors. There’s no other way. Of course, this brings us to the most crucial element of the entrepreneurial process: relationships. A great entrepreneur must always make sure that he’s building relationships that can help both him and his business. As a founder, you need to invest time and energy into developing the relationships that can ultimately help your startup grow. It’s important for a founder to establish personal relationships with their customers, their employees, and the media. To do so is to build trust, and ultimately, to ensure that the business is growing. Trust: A Billion Dollar Word The process is similar to that of hiring or attracting investors. These are often the most important roles to fulfill, but as mentioned before, they’re also one of the most difficult ones as well. There are a lot of elements of building a company, and each one of these elements is incredibly important, but without people like these, there’s no company. So, as a startup founder, you must put in the time. You have to work on building your business, learn everything you can about it, and ultimately, you must make sure that your business can withstand the challenges that are sure to come with that. That said, what do you think? What challenges are the most significant to growing a startup? What do you think that founders need to focus on the most, and how can they develop their skills? What mistakes do you think that most entrepreneurs make? Let us know in the comments below! To learn more about the startup ecosystem in New York, sign up for our newsletter below. Related Articles NewYorkBusiness.com is New York’s leading business website. It provides entrepreneurs and business owners with information and resources applicable to any business located in New York. 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