Within the team, you need to know each other well to be successful together. When in doubt, listen to your gut feelings. Make sure that:

  • Your values are aligned
  • You have respect for each other
  • The chemistry is good, also in bad days.

The best teams integrate analysis with execution skills.

  • Don’t over analyse the industry you want to get in, otherwise you will never get started (“paralysis by analysis”)
  • In practice you never have 100% of the info that you wish to had
  • You need to make a decision whether the uncertainties arising from the missing information is small enough that you are ready to take the plunge
  • Is the risk profile asymetric i.e. you have a lot more to win than to lose?

Don’t partner with someone that is only interested in the money:

  • Persistence and a long-term view are not consistent with short-term opportunism
  • You need something else than money to motivate you on a daily basis. Money won’t motivate you everyday.

We also all know creative thinkers who have a lot of interesting ideas but don’t seem to be able to prioritize or to get started. Forget about them, they are just wasting your time.